Wedbush Securities Inc. Reduces Stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Wedbush Securities Inc. trimmed its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,763 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,711 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. makes up about 0.7% of Wedbush Securities Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Wedbush Securities Inc.'s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $20,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JPM. Disciplined Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $217,000. LGT Group Foundation raised its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 525,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $126,040,000 after acquiring an additional 14,300 shares in the last quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. now owns 43,732 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,483,000 after acquiring an additional 4,375 shares during the period. Jag Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,450,775 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $938,491,000 after purchasing an additional 319,730 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other JPMorgan Chase & Co. news, insider Robin Leopold sold 1,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.09, for a total value of $337,612.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,377 shares in the company, valued at $13,606,323.93. The trade was a 2.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jennifer Piepszak sold 4,273 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.85, for a total value of $1,153,069.05. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 76,848 shares of company stock worth $19,987,908. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Down 4.2 %

NYSE JPM traded down $9.92 on Thursday, reaching $224.42. The company had a trading volume of 8,551,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,644,506. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company's fifty day moving average is $250.33 and its 200 day moving average is $241.75. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 52-week low of $179.20 and a 52-week high of $280.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $627.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.01.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $42.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors 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 2.50%. 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 28.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on JPM. Robert W. Baird upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $304.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $269.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $254.83.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. 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.