Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. accounts for approximately 0.2% of Ascension Capital Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 38.5% during the third quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jennifer Piepszak sold 4,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.85, for a total transaction of $1,153,069.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 54,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,698,459.65. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robin Leopold sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.09, for a total transaction of $337,612.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,606,323.93. The trade was a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 46,326 shares of company stock valued at $12,448,445. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:JPM opened at $242.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 12 month low of $179.20 and a 12 month high of $280.25. The company has a market cap of $677.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $259.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.26.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.78. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 20.96% and a return on equity of 16.99%. The business had revenue of $42.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on JPM. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $215.00 to $220.00 in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.89.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of financial and investment banking services. The firm offers a range of investment banking products and services in all capital markets, including advising on corporate strategy and structure, capital raising in equity and debt markets, risk management, market making in cash securities and derivative instruments, and brokerage and research.