By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW – Get Free Report)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $84.00 to $91.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Charles Schwab traded as high as $83.94 and last traded at $83.71, with a volume of 3540125 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.87.
Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Cowen raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.50.
View Our Latest Research Report on SCHW
Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab
In other Charles Schwab news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,523,242.94. The trade was a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,500 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.02, for a total value of $192,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,391,674.38. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,014 shares of company stock valued at $4,052,281. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 230.1% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 23,383 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 5,937 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 46.0% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 21,377 shares during the period. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $688,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 293.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 9,108 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.
Charles Schwab Stock Performance
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.79 billion, a PE ratio of 27.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.57.
Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Charles Schwab Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 33.44%.
Charles Schwab Company 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.
Further Reading
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