Bank of America Issues Positive Forecast for Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Stock Price

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) had its target price upped by Bank of America from $84.00 to $86.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.52.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW stock opened at $94.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $170.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $95.37 and its 200 day moving average is $88.64. Charles Schwab has a 52 week low of $64.07 and a 52 week high of $99.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The business had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Charles Schwab will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.03%.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.84, for a total transaction of $17,185,903.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 590,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,388,148.56. This trade represents a 22.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 6,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.81, for a total transaction of $594,800.64. Following the sale, the insider owned 11,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,154,265.63. This trade represents a 34.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 267,128 shares of company stock worth $26,232,077. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the first quarter valued at approximately $79,605,000. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 13.8% during the first quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 39,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,061,000 after buying an additional 4,754 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 6.2% in the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,181,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,493,000 after acquiring an additional 68,858 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 10.2% in the second quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 5,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 14.1% during the first quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 39,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,074,000 after acquiring an additional 4,869 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

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.