JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:JPM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 346,827 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 410% compared to the average daily volume of 68,031 call options.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of JPM stock opened at $296.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $822.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $265.91 and its 200 day moving average is $254.16. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 12 month low of $190.90 and a 12 month high of $296.40.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.63 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $45.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.62 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 21.21% and a return on equity of 16.88%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In other news, CFO Jeremy Barnum sold 40,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were 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 directly owned 18,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,518,123.09. The trade was a 68.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 2,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.71, for a total transaction of $749,567.91. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 68,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,269,422.47. The trade was a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 71,200 shares of company stock valued at $18,060,015. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,220,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,161,171,000 after acquiring an additional 876,417 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,310,884,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 33,845,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,113,147,000 after acquiring an additional 4,515,147 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.9% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 454,226 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 25,861.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,556,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,778,289,000 after acquiring an additional 23,465,278 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on JPM. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $305.00 price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 27th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $305.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, JPMorgan Chase & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $277.74.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Company 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.