Finer Wealth Management Inc. Acquires 1,677 Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Finer Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,677 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab accounts for 1.4% of Finer Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Finer Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Charles Schwab by 15.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 19,817,022 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased 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 valued at $1,096,083,000 after acquiring an additional 9,749,728 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in Charles Schwab by 354.5% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 11,005,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $814,545,000 after acquiring an additional 8,584,173 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the first quarter valued at $440,699,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Charles Schwab by 742.0% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,181,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,451,000 after acquiring an additional 3,684,640 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on SCHW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price objective on Charles Schwab and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $117.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.35.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE SCHW opened at $97.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.47 billion, a PE ratio of 26.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 1-year low of $61.16 and a 1-year high of $99.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.64 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.73% and a net margin of 33.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

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

Charles Schwab declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paula A. Sneed sold 8,647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.06, for a total transaction of $761,454.82. Following the sale, the director directly owned 105,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,303,891.24. This represents a 7.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total transaction of $2,359,239.36. Following the sale, the insider owned 58,999 shares in the company, valued at $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 three months, insiders sold 308,016 shares of company stock worth $29,341,433. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab 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.