Wealthspire Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Key Points

• Wealthspire Advisors LLC significantly increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 95.8% during the first quarter, acquiring 43,394 shares and bringing its total holdings to 88,702 shares valued at approximately $6.94 million.
• Several large investors raised their stakes in Charles Schwab, including Kovitz Investment Group, which boosted its holdings by 354.5%, now owning over 11 million shares worth around $814 million.
• The Charles Schwab Corporation announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, which reflects a 1.1% dividend yield, and initiated a stock repurchase program authorizing up to $20 billion to buy back shares.

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 95.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,702 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 43,394 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $6,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 354.5% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 11,005,881 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $814,545,000 after purchasing an additional 8,584,173 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 69.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,700,013 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $717,898,000 after acquiring an additional 3,974,940 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 742.0% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,181,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $309,451,000 after acquiring an additional 3,684,640 shares during the period. PointState Capital LP bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $237,280,000. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth $234,538,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SCHW shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.35.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE SCHW traded down $0.81 on Thursday, reaching $95.91. 7,260,222 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,161,237. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $91.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.24. The firm has a market cap of $174.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.53. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $61.16 and a fifty-two week high of $99.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.64 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.73% and a net margin of 33.68%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis 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 initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.57, for a total transaction of $249,574.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,332,727.83. This represents a 15.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,290 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.06, for a total transaction of $316,037.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,956,519.28. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 308,016 shares of company stock worth $29,341,433. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.