Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) shares reached a new 52-week high 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $81.87.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Redburn Partners lowered their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,014 shares of company stock valued at $4,052,281 in the last 90 days. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 7.0% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 304,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,723,000 after buying an additional 19,833 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 5.2% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Talbot Financial LLC boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 6.4% during the third quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 163,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,605,000 after buying an additional 9,906 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 11.9% during the third quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 15,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after buying an additional 1,672 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $148.79 billion, a PE ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $77.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.57.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.44%.

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.