The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Short Interest Down 25.9% in February

16 Mar 2025, 20:17 by Sarita Garza · The Markets Daily

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW – Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 16,840,000 shares, a decrease of 25.9% from the February 13th total of 22,740,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded up $3.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $77.28. 14,198,976 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,249,280. Charles Schwab has a 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $84.50. The company has a market capitalization of $140.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW – Get Free Report) last released its 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 business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Charles Schwab will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Charles Schwab

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 0.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,673,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $432,536,000 after purchasing an additional 38,201 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 13.0% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 11,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,309 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 6.9% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 7,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 9.9% during the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 4,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.0% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,654,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

View Our Latest Analysis on SCHW

About Charles Schwab

(Get Free Report)

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.