Short Interest in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Declines By 19.3%

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 23,610,000 shares, a decline of 19.3% from the February 28th total of 29,240,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JPM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $304.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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 report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $273.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.83.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,310,884,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 33,845,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,113,147,000 after acquiring an additional 4,515,147 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 34,259.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,499,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $838,865,000 after acquiring an additional 3,489,314 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 10,684,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,561,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,550,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,207,028,000 after purchasing an additional 2,465,572 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Down 0.7 %

JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock traded down $1.72 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $243.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,048,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,355,392. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.88. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 12 month low of $179.20 and a 12 month high of $280.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $257.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $241.05. The company has a market capitalization of $681.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.10.

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

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. 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 payout ratio is presently 28.37%.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

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.