Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Stock Price Up 0.6%

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)’s stock price shot up 0.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $71.86 and last traded at $71.45. 1,214,902 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 7,730,623 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SCHW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. TD Cowen raised Charles Schwab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Citigroup cut shares of Charles Schwab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.12.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.10. The stock has a market cap of $127.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.13, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total value of $637,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 581,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,207,857.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total transaction of $637,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 581,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,207,857.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total transaction of $257,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,611 shares in the company, valued at $2,425,533.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 216,584 shares of company stock valued at $14,200,769. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Hall Laurie J Trustee bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

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.