Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 167,546 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 139% compared to the typical volume of 70,225 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On JPMorgan Chase & Co.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on JPM shares. Robert W. Baird downgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $216.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $217.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $211.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $236.82.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE JPM traded up $3.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $243.28. The stock had a trading volume of 9,460,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,340,707. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $684.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $239.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.65. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a twelve month low of $164.30 and a twelve month high of $254.31.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.35. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 19.64% and a return on equity of 16.71%. The firm had revenue of $43.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.33 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 17.62 earnings per share for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s payout ratio is 27.82%.

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.