Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Down 1.9% – Should You Sell?

Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) fell 1.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $81.59 and last traded at $81.59. 6,075,354 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 10,387,343 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCHW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.56.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $145.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,481,838.69. This trade represents a 11.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 47,514 shares of company stock worth $3,859,731. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Charles Schwab

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 62.6% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth about $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.