The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,740,000 shares, a growth of 70.5% from the January 31st total of 13,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 10,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at $1,523,242.94. The trade was a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 487,820 shares of company stock valued at $39,938,849. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,578,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,516,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,384 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Charles Schwab by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,076,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,023,175,000 after buying an additional 414,949 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,901,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,279,742,000 after buying an additional 760,043 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,858,706,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711,312 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,644,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on SCHW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. TD Cowen upgraded Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE SCHW traded down $1.45 during trading on Monday, reaching $78.08. 9,983,997 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,073,562. Charles Schwab has a 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $84.50. The stock has a market cap of $139.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $78.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.76.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

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.