Groupama Asset Managment Raises Stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,368 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $1,455,000. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 13.8% during the 1st 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 increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,181,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,493,000 after purchasing an additional 68,858 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Charles Schwab by 248.3% in the fourth quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 112,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,317,000 after purchasing an additional 80,112 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SCHW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. TD Securities upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $117.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.60.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW opened at $95.7530 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $173.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business’s 50 day moving average is $93.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.09. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 52-week low of $61.16 and a 52-week high of $99.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The business’s revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

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

Charles Schwab declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, Director Paula A. Sneed sold 8,647 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.06, for a total value of $761,454.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 105,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,303,891.24. This trade represents a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total value of $2,359,239.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 58,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,776,592.09. This represents a 29.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 260,516 shares of company stock valued at $25,139,583. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

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.