Sawyer & Company Inc Trims Holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Sawyer & Company Inc lowered its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 802 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. accounts for 1.3% of Sawyer & Company Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $3,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.9% during the third quarter. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. now owns 79,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,586,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 4.4% during the second quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 34,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,956,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC grew its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 97.6% during the third quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 13,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 6,521 shares in the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 126,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,405,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allen Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 174,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,341,000 after purchasing an additional 23,894 shares in the last quarter. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jennifer Piepszak sold 1,649 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.59, for a total value of $274,706.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,741,857.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 6,030 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.73, for a total value of $1,101,861.90. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 59,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,864,394.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jennifer Piepszak sold 1,649 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.59, for a total value of $274,706.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,467 shares in the company, valued at $5,741,857.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 849,303 shares of company stock worth $155,107,447. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on JPM shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $177.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.63.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Up 1.9 %

JPM opened at $199.52 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $181.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $163.37. The company has a market capitalization of $574.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.14. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 52 week low of $126.22 and a 52 week high of $200.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.73 by ($0.69). The firm had revenue of $38.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.73 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 20.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.57 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is an increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.36%.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co operates as a financial services company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Consumer & Community Banking (CCB), Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB), Commercial Banking (CB), and Asset & Wealth Management (AWM). The CCB segment offers deposit, investment and lending products, cash management, and payments and services; mortgage origination and servicing activities; residential mortgages and home equity loans; and credit cards, auto loans, leases, and travel services to consumers and small businesses through bank branches, ATMs, and digital and telephone banking.