The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Trims Stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 14.0%, selling 222,654 shares to hold approximately 1,372,309 shares valued at $107,424,000.
• Charles Schwab is subject to positive analyst ratings, with sixteen analysts rating the stock as a Buy and a consensus price target of $99.60.
• The company announced a $20.00 billion share buyback program, reflecting management's belief that its stock is undervalued, alongside a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 14.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,372,309 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 222,654 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.08% of Charles Schwab worth $107,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the first quarter worth $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 90.5% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $117.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.60.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 10,129 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $911,711.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,524,251.54. The trade was a 20.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 6,144 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.81, for a total transaction of $594,800.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 11,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,154,265.63. This represents a 34.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 295,009 shares of company stock valued at $28,717,464. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $96.06. 7,216,923 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,870,139. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12-month low of $61.16 and a 12-month high of $99.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.82, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The company had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. Charles Schwab's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.03%.

Charles Schwab declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Charles Schwab

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.