L & S Advisors Inc Reduces Stock Holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

L & S Advisors Inc lowered its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,844 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. makes up approximately 1.2% of L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $11,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JPM. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $269.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Baird R W upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $304.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $337,612.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 50,377 shares in the company, valued at $13,606,323.93. The trade was a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.94, for a total value of $838,763.82. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 47,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,092,622.80. The trade was a 6.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 76,848 shares of company stock valued at $19,987,908 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:JPM opened at $246.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $688.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $256.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $241.36. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 1 year low of $179.20 and a 1 year high of $280.25.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 EPS for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This is a positive change from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 28.37%.

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.