Insider Selling: The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Insider Sells 3,380 Shares of Stock

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $268,101.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,586,123.76. This trade represents a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 3.8 %

SCHW stock traded down $2.95 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $75.17. 15,422,922 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,154,950. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $84.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.83. The company has a market cap of $136.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles Schwab

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $1,289,544,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 354.5% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 11,005,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $814,545,000 after acquiring an additional 8,584,173 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 69.4% in the 4th 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 increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 742.0% in the 4th 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. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 310.3% in the 4th 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. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCHW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

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.