Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Sells 11,755 Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Key Points

• Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. reduced its shares in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 6.4% in Q1, selling 11,755 shares and retaining 170,594 shares valued at $13.35 million.
• Institutions own over 84% of Charles Schwab shares, with significant new positions taken by Vanguard Group (15.4% increase) and Primecap Management Company (229.3% increase).
• Charles Schwab's stock received positive forecast adjustments from several analysts, resulting in a new consensus price target of $99.60 with a "Moderate Buy" rating.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. reduced its position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 6.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,594 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,755 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.'s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $13,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 15.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 148,395,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,616,380,000 after purchasing an additional 19,817,022 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,739,917 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,164,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,286 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 5.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,586,450 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,220,107,000 after purchasing an additional 743,906 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 229.3% during the first quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,002,078 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,096,083,000 after purchasing an additional 9,749,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,653,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $862,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,511,082 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on SCHW. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,290 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.06, for a total value of $316,037.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,188 shares in the company, valued at $3,956,519.28. The trade was a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total transaction of $2,359,239.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 58,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,776,592.09. This trade represents a 29.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 308,016 shares of company stock valued at $29,341,433 over the last quarter. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $96.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 52 week low of $61.16 and a 52 week high of $99.59. The firm's fifty day moving average is $93.09 and its 200 day moving average is $84.91. The company has a market cap of $174.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is 29.03%.

Charles Schwab announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Charles Schwab Company Profile

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.

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