JPMorgan Chase & Co. Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:JPM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors bought 167,546 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 139% compared to the typical daily volume of 70,225 call options.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE JPM opened at $243.28 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $239.32 and its 200-day moving average is $220.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $684.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.11. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a one year low of $164.30 and a one year high of $254.31.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $43.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.43 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 19.64% and a return on equity of 16.71%. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.33 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 17.62 EPS for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 27.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lowered JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $220.00 to $224.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $216.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.82.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JPM. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the third quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co operates as a financial services company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Consumer & Community Banking (CCB), Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB), Commercial Banking (CB), and Asset & Wealth Management (AWM). The CCB segment offers deposit, investment and lending products, cash management, and payments and services; mortgage origination and servicing activities; residential mortgages and home equity loans; and credit cards, auto loans, leases, and travel services to consumers and small businesses through bank branches, ATMs, and digital and telephone banking.