Traders Purchase Large Volume of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Call Options (NYSE:JPM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 133,265 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 73% compared to the typical daily volume of 76,931 call options.

Insider Activity at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In related news, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the general counsel now owns 47,620 shares in the company, valued at $12,092,622.80. This represents a 6.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On JPMorgan Chase & Co.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 58,344,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,258,346,000 after purchasing an additional 505,830 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 4.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 22,696,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,590,412,000 after buying an additional 1,040,594 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 31.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 16,784,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,539,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,043,841 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 302,592 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 7.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,073,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,338,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,289 shares during the period. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Performance

JPM opened at $259.46 on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $165.24 and a fifty-two week high of $260.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $243.06 and a 200 day moving average of $223.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $730.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.11.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last released 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 19.64% and a return on equity of 16.71%. The business had revenue of $42.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 17.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 27.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on JPM. Wolfe Research raised 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 report on Friday, January 3rd. Baird R W cut shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $211.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $240.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $251.78.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Company Profile

JPMorgan Chase & Co operates as a financial services company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Consumer & Community Banking (CCB), Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB), Commercial Banking (CB), and Asset & Wealth Management (AWM). The CCB segment offers deposit, investment and lending products, cash management, and payments and services; mortgage origination and servicing activities; residential mortgages and home equity loans; and credit cards, auto loans, leases, and travel services to consumers and small businesses through bank branches, ATMs, and digital and telephone banking.