Brokerages Set The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) PT at $85.33

Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $85.44.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $96.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Redburn Partners cut their target price on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley raised Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington reiterated an Overweight rating and $92 target. Ahead of earnings, he highlighted Schwab’s earnings model and positive impact of rising cash allocations. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $93.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW opened at $76.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. Charles Schwab has a 52 week low of $61.01 and a 52 week high of $84.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $77.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.46 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Charles Schwab will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $268,101.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,586,123.76. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 513,081 shares of company stock worth $41,903,066 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at $1,289,544,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 354.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 8,584,173 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position 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 lifted its stake 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 worth $309,451,000 after purchasing an additional 3,684,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 310.3% in the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,252,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,716,000 after purchasing an additional 3,216,000 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.