Charles Schwab Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:SCHW)

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 33,328 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 28% compared to the typical volume of 26,070 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,481,838.69. This trade represents a 11.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,514 shares of company stock worth $3,859,731. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Charles Schwab

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 62.6% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Planning Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. bought a new stake in Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW traded up $2.07 on Tuesday, reaching $83.24. 30,068,984 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,455,335. The firm has a market cap of $148.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Charles Schwab has a 12 month low of $61.01 and a 12 month high of $84.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $77.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Charles Schwab will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business 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. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 33.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SCHW shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.56.

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.