Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Stock

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Citigroup from $80.00 to $85.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential upside of 3.71% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $74.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cowen upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.83.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $81.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.41, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $77.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.75. Charles Schwab has a 52 week low of $61.01 and a 52 week high of $83.35.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5,190,822.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Charles Schwab will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total value of $1,034,024.63. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,092 shares in the company, valued at $4,796,497.64. This represents a 17.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at $1,481,838.69. This represents a 11.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,823 shares of company stock worth $2,171,194. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.6% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.