Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Price Target to $87.00

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $93.00 to $87.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on SCHW. Morgan Stanley raised Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.33.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $69.79 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $78.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $126.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. Charles Schwab has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Charles Schwab will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. 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 1.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 513,081 shares of company stock valued at $41,903,066. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Charles Schwab

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased 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 valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 4,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.2% in 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 during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.