Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM - Free Report) by 16.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,410 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 15,781 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $27,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,450,775 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $938,491,000 after buying an additional 319,730 shares during the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC grew its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 2,357 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Financial Partners Group Inc grew its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Financial Partners Group Inc now owns 5,235 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,255,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 48,732 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $66,088,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other JPMorgan Chase & Co. news, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 2,821 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.71, for a total value of $749,567.91. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 68,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,269,422.47. This trade represents a 3.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Troy L. Rohrbaugh sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.02, for a total value of $6,175,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 133,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,947,774.62. This trade represents a 15.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 95,594 shares of company stock valued at $23,991,061. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:JPM traded down $2.44 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $261.78. 8,062,593 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,543,152. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $246.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $190.88 and a fifty-two week high of $280.25. The company has a market capitalization of $727.52 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.08.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.63 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $45.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.62 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 20.96%. The company's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on JPM. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report on Monday. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report on Wednesday. Baird R W upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $273.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $305.00 price target on the stock. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $267.15.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Company 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.