Forefront Wealth Management Inc. Invests $2.32 Million in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Forefront Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 9,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,316,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. comprises 2.1% of Forefront Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of JPM. DDD Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. DDD Partners LLC now owns 1,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Almanack Investment Partners LLC. increased its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. now owns 5,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on JPM shares. Robert W. Baird raised shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $220.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Baird R W upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $257.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised 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 research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jennifer Piepszak sold 4,273 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 54,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,698,459.65. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Robin Leopold sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.09, for a total transaction of $337,612.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,606,323.93. This trade represents a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,848 shares of company stock worth $19,987,908. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Down 2.1 %

JPM opened at $242.97 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 cap of $679.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $257.55 and a 200-day moving average of $240.30.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $42.77 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share. Equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is an increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.