Traders Buy High Volume of Charles Schwab Call Options (NYSE:SCHW)

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 45,419 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 71% compared to the typical daily volume of 26,625 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.02, for a total value of $192,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at $1,391,674.38. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total transaction of $1,034,024.63. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,796,497.64. The trade was a 17.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,823 shares of company stock worth $2,171,194. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stablepoint Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 12,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $924,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 127,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,422,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares during the period. Tran Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Tran Capital Management L.P. now owns 196,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,889 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth $221,000. Finally, B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth $355,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on SCHW shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on Charles Schwab from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cowen increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.41.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE:SCHW opened at $80.88 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $77.65 and a 200 day moving average of $70.62. The company has a market capitalization of $143.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. Charles Schwab has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $83.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5,190,822.51 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 27.47%. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Charles Schwab will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.