Charles Schwab Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:SCHW)

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 33,328 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 28% compared to the typical daily volume of 26,070 call options.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, Director Christopher V. Dodds sold 9,284 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.43, for a total transaction of $755,996.12. Following the transaction, the director now owns 442,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,057,774.01. This represents a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total transaction of $1,034,024.63. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,796,497.64. This trade represents a 17.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,514 shares of company stock worth $3,859,731 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 4,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 11,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SCHW shares. Barclays upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Redburn Partners reduced their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.56.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $82.37 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $78.04 and its 200 day moving average is $72.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Charles Schwab has a 52 week low of $61.01 and a 52 week high of $84.50. The stock has a market cap of $146.59 billion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Charles Schwab will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 33.44%.

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.