ProShare Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

ProShare Advisors LLC decreased its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 5.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 383,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,823 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $35,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $11,616,380,000 after acquiring an additional 19,817,022 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,212,461,000 after purchasing an additional 13,262,309 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 229.3% in the 1st quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,002,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,096,083,000 after purchasing an additional 9,749,728 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 82,048,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,422,795,000 after purchasing an additional 8,954,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter valued at about $440,699,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $96.05 on Wednesday. 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. The company has a market cap of $174.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.19.

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

Charles Schwab declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 25.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 50,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $4,851,552.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $299,122.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 34,778 shares in the company, valued at $3,245,830.74. This represents a 8.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 65,866 shares of company stock valued at $6,370,897 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on SCHW shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.45.

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.