Close Asset Management Ltd Grows Stock Position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 13.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 65,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,599 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $16,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $14,161,171,000 after acquiring an additional 876,417 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,310,884,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 33,845,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,113,147,000 after purchasing an additional 4,515,147 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.9% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 454,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 25,861.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,556,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,778,289,000 after buying an additional 23,465,278 shares during the period. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on JPM shares. Phillip Securities downgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup set a $275.00 target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $277.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and issued a $259.00 price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.68.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JPM opened at $298.22 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $278.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $828.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.10. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $190.90 and a fifty-two week high of $299.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.88.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.48 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $44.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.76 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 16.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.73%.

Insider Transactions at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In related news, COO Jennifer Piepszak sold 6,128 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.47, for a total value of $1,608,416.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,392,563.85. This represents a 8.94% 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, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 2,821 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.71, for a total value of $749,567.91. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 68,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,269,422.47. This trade represents a 3.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,200 shares of company stock valued at $18,060,015 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Profile

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.