Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Trading Down 2.5% – Here’s Why

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)’s stock price traded down 2.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $80.29 and last traded at $80.24. 3,809,560 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 12,070,032 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on SCHW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Redburn Partners decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.56.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 1.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.35. The company has a market cap of $142.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.86, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. On average, analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.44%.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,481,838.69. This represents a 11.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 512,143 shares of company stock valued at $41,917,493. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 42.7% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 287,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,297,000 after buying an additional 86,101 shares during the period. Davidson Kahn Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth $859,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,111,000. Talon Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $296,000. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 247,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,308,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.