The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW Shares Purchased by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 194,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the period. Charles Schwab comprises 1.5% of United Asset Strategies Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $17,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.4% in 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 buying an additional 19,817,022 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 595.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,488,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,212,461,000 after acquiring an additional 13,262,309 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised 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 worth $1,096,083,000 after acquiring an additional 9,749,728 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Charles Schwab by 12.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 82,048,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,422,795,000 after acquiring an additional 8,954,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the first quarter valued at approximately $440,699,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SCHW. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $114.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $130.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.45.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $96.05 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $94.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.19. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a one year low of $65.88 and a one year high of $99.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.93 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 35.93% and a return on equity of 21.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th 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 of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.29%.

Charles Schwab announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.33, for a total value of $299,122.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 34,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,245,830.74. This represents a 8.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 6,144 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.81, for a total transaction of $594,800.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,154,265.63. This trade represents a 34.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 65,866 shares of company stock valued at $6,370,897 over the last three months. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.