JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Trading Up 0.6% on Strong Earnings

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)’s stock price rose 0.6% during trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $257.04 and last traded at $253.78. Approximately 6,079,785 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 10,279,314 shares. The stock had previously closed at $252.35.

The financial services provider reported $4.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.78. The firm had revenue of $42.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.90 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 19.64% and a return on equity of 16.71%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.04 EPS.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JPM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $240.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $220.00 to $224.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $269.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $251.78.

Insider Transactions at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In related news, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 3,303 shares of the 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 sale, the general counsel now directly owns 47,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,092,622.80. This represents a 6.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JPM. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 0.4% during the second quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 21,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,423,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.7% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Hardin Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the second quarter valued at $1,378,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.2% during the second quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $981,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the second quarter valued at $5,341,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Up 0.7 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $715.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $242.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.72.

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.