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

The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 32,529 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 48% compared to the average daily volume of 21,952 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 10,176 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.39, for a total transaction of $889,280.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.43, for a total transaction of $261,713.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,824 shares in the company, valued at $3,548,152.32. This represents a 6.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 119,995 shares of company stock worth $10,493,320 in the last 90 days. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 97.9% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 386 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 6,650.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 405 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on SCHW. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup upgraded Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $94.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.40.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.1%

SCHW stock traded up $0.93 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $89.31. The stock had a trading volume of 9,756,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,463,680. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $85.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.15. The company has a market capitalization of $162.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.94. Charles Schwab has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $90.60.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.46 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 31.71% and a return on equity of 18.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Charles Schwab will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is currently 32.73%.

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.