Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Stock Price

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $74.00 to $84.00 in a report released on Friday. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 9.85% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on SCHW. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Cowen increased 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.41.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded up $0.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $76.47. 6,194,801 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,882,430. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.99. Charles Schwab has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $83.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.60.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.78 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 27.47% and a return on equity of 16.92%. Charles Schwab’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Charles Schwab will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.02, for a total transaction of $192,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at $1,391,674.38. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christopher V. Dodds sold 9,284 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.43, for a total value of $755,996.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 442,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,057,774.01. The trade was a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,823 shares of company stock valued at $2,171,194. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,644,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,157,923 shares during the last quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 200.0% during the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,070,000 after buying an additional 2,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,858,706,000 after buying an additional 1,711,312 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,681,000 after buying an additional 1,644,931 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $86,845,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by 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.