StockNews.com Upgrades JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) to “Hold”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $273.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. KGI Securities initiated coverage on JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report on Sunday, April 13th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $285.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $277.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $261.00 target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.67.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JPM opened at $265.81 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $239.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.33. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 1-year low of $190.88 and a 1-year high of $280.25. The company has a market cap of $738.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.07.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $45.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 EPS for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jeremy Barnum sold 40,014 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.77, for a total transaction of $10,034,310.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,518,123.09. This trade represents a 68.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robin Leopold sold 1,250 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.09, for a total value of $337,612.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,606,323.93. This represents a 2.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 129,188 shares of company stock worth $33,095,363. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JPM. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other 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.