JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Raised to “Neutral” at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Robert W. Baird currently has $220.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $215.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on JPM. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Oppenheimer cut shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Baird R W cut shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $269.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, JPMorgan Chase & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.89.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of JPM stock opened at $242.41 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $179.20 and a 52 week high of $280.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $677.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $259.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.26.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.81 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $41.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 6th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 3,303 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.94, for a total transaction of $838,763.82. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 47,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,092,622.80. The trade was a 6.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jennifer Piepszak sold 4,273 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.85, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,326 shares of company stock worth $12,448,445. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada acquired a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of financial and investment banking services. The firm offers a range of investment banking products and services in all capital markets, including advising on corporate strategy and structure, capital raising in equity and debt markets, risk management, market making in cash securities and derivative instruments, and brokerage and research.