Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 31.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 495,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 118,607 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $45,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 0.3% during the second quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 41,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,813,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 2.0% during the second quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 4.3% during the second quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 2,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 1.0% during the second quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tlwm grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 0.7% during the second quarter. Tlwm now owns 17,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,614,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on SCHW. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 22.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,999 shares in the company, valued at $5,776,592.09. This represents a 29.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 267,128 shares of company stock worth $26,232,077 over the last ninety days. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $94.37 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $94.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12-month low of $65.88 and a 12-month high of $99.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.93 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 35.93% and a return on equity of 21.26%. The business’s revenue was up 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.29%.

Charles Schwab declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.