Charles Schwab Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:SCHW)

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 33,328 call options on the company. This is an increase of 28% compared to the typical volume of 26,070 call options.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $82.37 on Thursday. Charles Schwab has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $84.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.11. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $146.59 billion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Charles Schwab will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 59,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,796,497.64. This trade represents a 17.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was 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. Insiders have sold 47,514 shares of company stock valued at $3,859,731 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 19,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 8,721 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 3,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 682.4% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.0% in the third quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 37,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on SCHW shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Redburn Partners decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.56.

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.