JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Trading 0.5% Higher - Still a Buy?

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) shot up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $244.53 and last traded at $244.48. 2,448,652 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 9,595,067 shares. The stock had previously closed at $243.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JPM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $285.00 to $284.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Baird R W upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $269.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, JPMorgan Chase & Co. presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $255.67.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Up 0.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $681.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $240.18 and a 200 day moving average of $244.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

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

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is a positive change from JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.49%.

Insider Transactions at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In related news, insider Robin Leopold sold 1,250 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $308,650.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,127 shares in the company, valued at $12,130,438.84. This trade represents a 2.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Troy L. Rohrbaugh sold 25,000 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 133,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,947,774.62. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 73,545 shares of company stock valued at $19,149,144 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On JPMorgan Chase & Co.

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JPM. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.5% in the 4th 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 period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,310,884,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 15.4% during the 4th 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 period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.9% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 25,861.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,556,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,778,289,000 after purchasing an additional 23,465,278 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company's stock.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

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.

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