Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Stock Price Down 3.6% After Insider Selling

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 3.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $72.27 and last traded at $72.56. Approximately 4,026,643 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 7,506,143 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.27.

Specifically, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 89,275 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.62, for a total transaction of $6,661,700.50. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 30,641,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,286,504,622.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.29, for a total transaction of $587,610.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 585,057 shares in the company, valued at $38,198,371.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 89,275 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.62, for a total transaction of $6,661,700.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,641,981 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,504,622.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 622,536 shares of company stock valued at $46,208,155 over the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SCHW. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.12.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $73.50 and a 200 day moving average of $67.05. The company has a market cap of $128.57 billion, a PE ratio of 30.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 26.14%. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is 41.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 440 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Hall Laurie J Trustee bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

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.