Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Trading Down 4% – Here’s Why

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)’s share price fell 4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $71.47 and last traded at $71.48. 1,742,390 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 4,817,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America reduced their price target on Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.19.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $129.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.49, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 27.47% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 39.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 62,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $4,521,259.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 60,619,371 shares in the company, valued at $4,396,116,784.92. This trade represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,500 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.02, for a total value of $192,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,391,674.38. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,968 shares of company stock worth $8,842,821 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 5,937 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,400,000 after buying an additional 21,377 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 155.9% in the third quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 104,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,751,000 after buying an additional 63,463 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp grew its position in Charles Schwab by 9.4% in the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,640,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,299,000 after acquiring an additional 140,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teewinot Capital Advisers L.L.C. raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 9.0% during the second quarter. Teewinot Capital Advisers L.L.C. now owns 775,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,122,000 after acquiring an additional 64,041 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.