The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $121.1667.

SCHW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research raised Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Compass Point began coverage on Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, August 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other Charles Schwab news, Director Paula A. Sneed sold 5,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.15, for a total transaction of $563,930.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 91,711 shares in the company, valued at $9,826,833.65. This represents a 5.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 32,947 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.01, for a total value of $3,426,817.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 57,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,029,667.72. This represents a 36.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 649,582 shares of company stock worth $69,948,015. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 99.2% during the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 143.2% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the first quarter worth about $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 1.4%

SCHW opened at $108.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $187.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Charles Schwab has a fifty-two week low of $83.96 and a fifty-two week high of $114.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $104.09 and a 200-day moving average of $96.48.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $7.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 24.53% and a net margin of 38.79%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Charles Schwab will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.27%.

About Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) is a diversified financial services firm that provides brokerage, banking, wealth management and advisory services to individual investors, independent investment advisors and institutional clients. Its primary offerings include retail brokerage accounts, online trading platforms, Schwab-branded mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), retirement plan services, custodial services for independent Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), and banking products through Charles Schwab Bank.