JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Monday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $257.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Baird R W raised shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $269.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $273.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $255.67.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Up 0.9 %

JPM traded up $2.18 on Monday, reaching $231.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,553,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,616,510. The company has a market capitalization of $645.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $179.97 and a fifty-two week high of $280.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $245.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.42.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.63 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $45.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.62 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 20.96%. The business's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.44 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. This is an increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jennifer Piepszak sold 4,273 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.85, for a total value of $1,153,069.05. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 54,469 shares in the company, valued at $14,698,459.65. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Troy L. Rohrbaugh sold 37,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.84, for a total transaction of $10,119,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 158,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,737,529.04. The trade was a 19.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 73,545 shares of company stock worth $19,149,144 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,824,289 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,228,110,000 after purchasing an additional 182,648 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC raised its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.4% in the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 15,033 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,170,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 15.1% during the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 10,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,267,000 after buying an additional 1,407 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.5% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 21,082 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,445,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc grew its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 234.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,226 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,524,000 after acquiring an additional 5,065 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.55% of the company's stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Company Profile

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.