JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Stock Position Boosted by Sandy Spring Bank

Sandy Spring Bank grew its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,505 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. comprises 1.6% of Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $40,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 58,344,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,258,346,000 after purchasing an additional 505,830 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,103,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,818,905,000 after buying an additional 71,122 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,401,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,171,298,000 after buying an additional 617,164 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 15,084,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,180,806,000 after buying an additional 302,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 7.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,073,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,338,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,289 shares during the period. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JPM. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $220.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $304.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Baird R W raised JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, JPMorgan Chase & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.89.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JPM opened at $250.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $701.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.10. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 1 year low of $179.20 and a 1 year high of $280.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $257.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $240.06.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.78. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 20.96%. The business 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 company earned $3.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is an increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.37%.

Insider Activity at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In other news, COO Jennifer Piepszak sold 4,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 54,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,698,459.65. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Troy L. Rohrbaugh sold 37,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 158,381 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 76,848 shares of company stock valued at $19,987,908. Insiders own 0.79% 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. 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.