Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Trading 3.3% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) traded up 3.3% during mid-day trading on Monday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $75.00 to $78.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Charles Schwab traded as high as $73.65 and last traded at $72.36. 5,105,775 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 7,525,560 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.03.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 4,977 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total transaction of $348,439.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 81,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,702,034.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 4,977 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total value of $348,439.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 81,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,702,034.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total transaction of $637,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 581,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,207,857.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 216,584 shares of company stock valued at $14,200,769. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 86,421,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,945,833,000 after purchasing an additional 8,182,467 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 69,360,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,771,985,000 after purchasing an additional 17,369,091 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 30,994,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,132,454,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,015 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,050,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,413,244,000 after purchasing an additional 391,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,255,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,853,005,000 after purchasing an additional 8,563,389 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $126.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $67.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.62.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.49 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.90% and a return on equity of 21.33%. Charles Schwab’s revenue was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.37%.

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.