350,000 Shares in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW Purchased by Zimmer Partners LP

Key Points

• Zimmer Partners LP acquired 350,000 shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation, valued at approximately $27.4 million, further increasing institutional ownership which now accounts for 84.38% of the company's stock.
• Recent analyst ratings show a generally positive outlook for Charles Schwab, with Truist Financial raising its price target to $112 and an overall average target price of $99.60.
• Charles Schwab has approved a $20 billion stock repurchase program, indicating that the board believes its shares are undervalued.

Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 350,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $27,398,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the first quarter worth about $79,605,000. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 13.8% during the first quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 39,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,061,000 after purchasing an additional 4,754 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.2% during the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,181,563 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,493,000 after purchasing an additional 68,858 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.6% during the first quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 163,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,760,000 after purchasing an additional 11,505 shares during the period. Finally, United Services Automobile Association lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 14.1% during the first quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 39,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,074,000 after purchasing an additional 4,869 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.84, for a total value of $17,185,903.84. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 590,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,388,148.56. This represents a 22.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 10,129 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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. This trade represents a 20.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 298,214 shares of company stock worth $29,022,580. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SCHW. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. TD Securities lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $117.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Redburn Atlantic raised Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $82.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.60.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $93.50. 7,701,819 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,938,769. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12-month low of $61.81 and a 12-month high of $99.59. The company has a market cap of $169.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.96. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $95.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.66.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 33.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.03%.

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.