Morgan Stanley Increases Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Price Target to $74.00

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $68.00 to $74.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 2.28% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on SCHW. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.94.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCHW traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $72.35. 2,286,543 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,056,301. Charles Schwab has a twelve month low of $48.66 and a twelve month high of $79.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $128.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 27.47%. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Charles Schwab will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total value of $74,980.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 61,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,035,032.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Charles Schwab news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 12,320 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.10, for a total transaction of $802,032.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 562,129 shares in the company, valued at $36,594,597.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 1,150 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total value of $74,980.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,035,032.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 182,001 shares of company stock worth $12,512,592. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Country Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 97.5% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by 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.