Insider Selling: The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Insider Sells $745,282.06 in Stock

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,613,038.78. The trade was a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 1.3 %

SCHW stock opened at $74.58 on Monday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50. The company has a market cap of $135.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on SCHW shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Redburn Partners lowered their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,289,544,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 354.5% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 11,005,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $814,545,000 after purchasing an additional 8,584,173 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 69.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,700,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $717,898,000 after purchasing an additional 3,974,940 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 742.0% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,181,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,451,000 after purchasing an additional 3,684,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 310.3% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,252,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,716,000 after purchasing an additional 3,216,000 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.