Bank of America Issues Positive Forecast for Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Stock Price

Key Points

• Bank of America has raised its price target for Charles Schwab's stock from $84.00 to $86.00, while maintaining an "underperform" rating, suggesting a potential downside of 7.36% from the current price.
• In contrast, several other analysts have a more optimistic view, with Schwaab's average target price at $100.05 and a majority of them (16 out of 22) giving it a "Buy" rating.
• Charles Schwab recently reported earnings exceeding expectations, with a 24.8% year-over-year revenue increase, and approved a share repurchase program worth $20 billion.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Bank of America from $84.00 to $86.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "underperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Bank of America's target price indicates a potential downside of 7.36% from the company's current price.

SCHW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $82.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $100.05.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCHW traded up $0.58 during trading on Thursday, hitting $92.83. The company had a trading volume of 3,555,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,933,431. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55. Charles Schwab has a 12 month low of $62.41 and a 12 month high of $99.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.30%. Charles Schwab's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Charles Schwab will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total transaction of $2,359,239.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,999 shares in the company, valued at $5,776,592.09. The trade was a 29.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 6,144 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.81, for a total transaction of $594,800.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,923 shares in the company, valued at $1,154,265.63. This represents a 34.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 263,923 shares of company stock valued at $25,932,955 in the last quarter. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the first quarter worth $25,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 75.0% in the first quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 97.9% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 386 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

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.

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