JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $280.25 and last traded at $279.30, with a volume of 7005213 shares. The stock had previously closed at $279.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on JPM. Barclays raised their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $304.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $257.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Baird R W cut JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $251.78.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Down 1.0 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $256.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.96. The firm has a market cap of $738.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $42.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s payout ratio is 25.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In other news, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.94, for a total transaction of $838,763.82. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 47,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,092,622.80. The trade was a 6.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Troy L. Rohrbaugh sold 37,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 158,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,737,529.04. The trade was a 19.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,326 shares of company stock worth $12,448,445 in the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On JPMorgan Chase & Co.

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 62,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,075,000 after purchasing an additional 3,761 shares during the period. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $478,000. Aurdan Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $277,000. Perennial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,704,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $189,000. 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. The firm offers a range of investment banking products and services in all capital markets, including advising on corporate strategy and structure, capital raising in equity and debt markets, risk management, market making in cash securities and derivative instruments, and brokerage and research.