Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 2,391 Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. has increased its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 0.7%, acquiring an additional 2,391 shares, which brings its total holdings to 323,350 shares valued at approximately $79.3 million.
• In recent trading activities, several institutional investors significantly increased their stakes in JPMorgan, including Norges Bank with a new position worth $8.3 billion, and GAMMA Investing LLC, which raised its stake by a remarkable 25,861.9%.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. recently reported better-than-expected earnings, with $4.96 earnings per share, exceeding analyst estimates, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 10.5%.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 323,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,391 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. comprises about 0.5% of Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $79,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of JPM. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,220,603 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,161,171,000 after purchasing an additional 876,417 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $8,310,884,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 33,845,676 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,113,147,000 after acquiring an additional 4,515,147 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,801,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,083,723,000 after acquiring an additional 454,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 25,861.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,556,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,778,289,000 after acquiring an additional 23,465,278 shares during the last quarter. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on JPM shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $277.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Robert W. Baird cut JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $235.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $327.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.68.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jennifer Piepszak sold 6,129 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.76, for a total transaction of $1,536,908.04. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 68,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,197,873.08. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Linda Bammann sold 9,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $2,375,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 91,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,884,750. The trade was a 9.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 71,200 shares of company stock worth $18,060,015 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Down 2.4%

JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock traded down $7.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $289.21. The stock had a trading volume of 12,005,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,727,902. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $280.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $261.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.89. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a twelve month low of $190.90 and a twelve month high of $301.29. The firm has a market cap of $803.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.11.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.48 by $0.48. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 16.93%. The business had revenue of $44.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.12 EPS. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Profile

JPMorgan Chase & Co is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of financial and investment banking services. It focuses on investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. It operates through the following segments: Consumer and Community Banking (CCB), Commercial and Investment Bank (CIB), Asset and Wealth Management (AWM), and Corporate.