Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Upgraded to Outperform at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $84.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $76.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $88.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $77.75.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $76.07 on Monday. Charles Schwab has a 1 year low of $48.66 and a 1 year high of $79.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $135.20 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.14.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 26.14%. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Charles Schwab will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total transaction of $705,690.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 574,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,027,491.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,446 shares in the company, valued at $5,172,690.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total value of $705,690.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 574,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,027,491.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 658,663 shares of company stock valued at $48,997,146 in the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,963,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,750,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,823 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Charles Schwab by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 72,306,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,230,657,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,327 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 30,994,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,132,454,000 after buying an additional 1,219,015 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,627,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,281,584,000 after acquiring an additional 296,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $950,192,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.