Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $91.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Charles Schwab traded as high as $84.50 and last traded at $83.51, with a volume of 59325916 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.17.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James lowered their price target on Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.56.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $188,623.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,481,838.69. This represents a 11.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 47,514 shares of company stock worth $3,859,731. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,289,544,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 69.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,700,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $717,898,000 after acquiring an additional 3,974,940 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 742.0% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,181,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,451,000 after acquiring an additional 3,684,640 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 310.3% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,252,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,716,000 after acquiring an additional 3,216,000 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,644,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $145.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.44%.

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.