Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW – Get Rating) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on SCHW. UBS Group cut their price target on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 18th. Credit Suisse Group upgraded Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $81.50 to $67.50 in a research note on Wednesday, March 15th. Citigroup cut their price target on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. Raymond James upgraded Charles Schwab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.73.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $51.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $91.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Charles Schwab has a 52-week low of $45.00 and a 52-week high of $86.63.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.13 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 27.83% and a net margin of 34.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Charles Schwab will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, President Richard A. Wurster acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $54.39 per share, for a total transaction of $108,780.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the president now owns 101,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,514,656.49. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Charles Schwab news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 10,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.23, for a total transaction of $866,163.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,322 shares in the company, valued at $4,598,944.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Richard A. Wurster purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $54.39 per share, for a total transaction of $108,780.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the president now directly owns 101,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,514,656.49. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 81,000 shares of company stock worth $4,706,960. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.5% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 20,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,452 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.3% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 25.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,648 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.5% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 16.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Charles Schwab Company Profile

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The Charles Schwab Corp. is a savings and loan holding company, which engages in the provision of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services. It operates through the Investor Services and Advisor Services segments. The Investor Services segment includes retail brokerage and banking services to individual investors, and retirement plan services, as well as other corporate brokerage services, to businesses and their employees.