JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Shares Up 1.4% – Should You Buy?

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)’s stock price rose 1.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $304.45 and last traded at $303.4580. Approximately 5,500,835 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 9,354,833 shares. The stock had previously closed at $299.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on JPM. Dbs Bank raised shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $342.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. TD Cowen raised their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $330.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.38.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Up 1.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $826.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $307.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.74.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $5.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.83 by $0.24. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a return on equity of 17.18% and a net margin of 20.90%.The firm had revenue of $47.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Monday, October 6th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 6th. This is an increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 29.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Linda Bammann sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.94, for a total transaction of $2,830,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 82,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,492,753.58. This trade represents a 10.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Robin Leopold sold 966 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.92, for a total value of $301,314.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 58,479 shares in the company, valued at $18,240,769.68. The trade was a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the first quarter valued at $28,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the first quarter worth $30,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 450.0% during the second quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.