Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Trading Down 0.5%

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) dropped 0.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $71.70 and last traded at $72.04. Approximately 1,190,260 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 7,727,360 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on SCHW. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Charles Schwab from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Citigroup cut Charles Schwab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Friday, December 1st. They issued a “sell” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.12.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.29 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.00.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.90% and a return on equity of 21.33%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total value of $257,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,425,533.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total value of $637,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 581,457 shares in the company, valued at $41,207,857.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total transaction of $257,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,611 shares in the company, valued at $2,425,533.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 216,584 shares of company stock worth $14,200,769 over the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Main Street Group LTD bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 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.