Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Price Target Raised to $115.00 at Barclays

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $114.00 to $115.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on SCHW. William Blair cut shares of Charles Schwab from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Charles Schwab from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.70.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.8%

Charles Schwab stock opened at $94.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day moving average is $94.68 and its 200-day moving average is $89.58. Charles Schwab has a fifty-two week low of $65.88 and a fifty-two week high of $99.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.06. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 35.93% and a return on equity of 21.26%. The company had revenue of $6.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Charles Schwab will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,290 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.06, for a total transaction of $316,037.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,956,519.28. This trade represents a 7.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total transaction of $2,359,239.36. Following the sale, the insider owned 58,999 shares in the company, valued at $5,776,592.09. This represents a 29.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 267,128 shares of company stock worth $26,232,077. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Charles Schwab

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,889,858,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 148,395,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,616,380,000 after acquiring an additional 19,817,022 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 595.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,488,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,212,461,000 after acquiring an additional 13,262,309 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 229.3% during the 1st quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,002,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,096,083,000 after acquiring an additional 9,749,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 82,048,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,422,795,000 after acquiring an additional 8,954,248 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

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.