Guardian Partners Inc. Buys New Stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 94,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $23,004,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. accounts for about 2.3% of Guardian Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In other news, CEO Troy L. Rohrbaugh sold 37,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.84, for a total value of $10,119,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 158,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,737,529.04. This trade represents a 19.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 3,303 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.94, for a total value of $838,763.82. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 47,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,092,622.80. This trade represents a 6.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,848 shares of company stock worth $19,987,908 over the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of JPM stock opened at $242.97 on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 52-week low of $179.20 and a 52-week high of $280.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $257.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $240.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $679.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.10.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.78. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 20.96%. The business had revenue of $42.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 EPS for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 28.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on JPM shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $304.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America increased their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Baird R W raised JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $257.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.89.

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.