Wright Investors Service Inc. Makes New $1.62 Million Investment in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Wright Investors Service Inc. has acquired a new stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation, purchasing 17,746 shares valued at approximately $1,619,000 in Q2.
• Charles Schwab reported quarterly earnings of $1.14 per share, exceeding expectations, with revenues increasing by 24.8% year-over-year.
• The company has announced a $20 billion share buyback plan, indicating leadership's belief that its shares are undervalued.

Wright Investors Service Inc. purchased a new stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 17,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,619,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 97.9% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 386 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 6,650.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 405 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,205 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.20, for a total transaction of $305,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 37,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,615,981.60. This trade represents a 7.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total transaction of $2,359,239.36. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 267,213 shares of company stock worth $26,232,180 in the last ninety days. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,854,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,536,586. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 1-year low of $62.41 and a 1-year high of $99.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

Charles Schwab declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is currently 29.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SCHW. Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Charles Schwab from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.00.

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.