The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW Shares Acquired by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,252 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $6,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Piscataqua Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Optima Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Charles Schwab this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat on EPS and strong trading/revenue momentum — Schwab reported $1.43 adjusted EPS and record quarterly revenue driven by elevated trading volumes and net new assets; that print supports underlying business strength. Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Posts Q1 CY2026 Sales In Line With Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Launch of Schwab Crypto — the firm announced phased retail roll‑out of spot Bitcoin and Ether trading (competitive pricing vs. peers); this expands addressable trading revenue and could increase client engagement if adoption scales. Charles Schwab Announces Details of Spot Crypto Trading Launch
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price‑target boosts and upgrades — major banks raised targets/ratings after the quarter, signaling renewed conviction that earnings leverage and product initiatives can drive upside. Charles Schwab Gets Dual Price Target Boosts From Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan
• Positive Sentiment: Tech initiatives — Schwab will roll out client‑facing AI agents in June, which could improve service efficiency and client retention over time. Schwab Makes AI Push, With Client-Facing Agents To Roll Out in June
• Neutral Sentiment: Record client growth and engagement — Schwab added ~1.3M accounts and reported ~$11.7T in client assets with record trading activity; positive for long‑term revenue but not an immediate fix for margin concerns. Charles Schwab Adds 1.3 Million Accounts, Reports Record Client Assets
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings materials/transcript available — investors will parse management commentary for detail on cash‑sweep dynamics, margin outlook and crypto rollout cadence. SCHW Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: FY‑2026 EPS guidance below Street — Schwab set FY‑26 EPS at $5.70–$5.80, under the ~$5.93 consensus; guidance shortfall is the main driver of the intra‑day weakness as it reduces near‑term valuation support.
• Negative Sentiment: Net interest income (NII) and cash‑sorting risk — analysts flagged weaker‑than‑expected NII and sensitivity to clients moving sweep cash into higher‑yield alternatives, which can pressure future margins. Charles Schwab stock dips as Q1 revenue disappoints on weaker-than-expected net-interest-income
• Negative Sentiment: Options activity and insider selling add near‑term volatility — elevated put buying ahead of the print and recent Rule‑10b5‑1 insider sales have amplified downside pressure and uncertainty. Traders Purchase High Volume of Charles Schwab Put Options (NYSE:SCHW) Nigel Murtagh Form 4

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW opened at $92.40 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $94.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.37. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12-month low of $73.76 and a 12-month high of $107.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $160.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.90.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 23.03% and a net margin of 37.99%.The firm had revenue of $6.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Charles Schwab’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Charles Schwab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.700-5.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.47%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Dennis Howard sold 10,108 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.60, for a total transaction of $956,216.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 10,470 shares in the company, valued at $990,462. This represents a 49.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christopher V. Dodds sold 11,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total value of $1,236,303.75. Following the sale, the director owned 449,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,985,397.30. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 470,748 shares of company stock worth $48,095,857 over the last quarter. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on SCHW. UBS Group decreased their price target on Charles Schwab from $125.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wolfe Research set a $120.00 target price on Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $126.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.30.

Charles Schwab Company Profile

Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) is a diversified financial services firm that provides brokerage, banking, wealth management and advisory services to individual investors, independent investment advisors and institutional clients. Its primary offerings include retail brokerage accounts, online trading platforms, Schwab-branded mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), retirement plan services, custodial services for independent Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), and banking products through Charles Schwab Bank.