JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Short Interest Down 19.3% in March

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

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JPM traded up $2.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $245.76. 671,501 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,326,152. The stock has a market capitalization of $687.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $256.88 and a 200 day moving average of $241.33. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 1 year low of $179.20 and a 1 year high of $280.25.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $42.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other JPMorgan Chase & Co. news, insider Robin Leopold sold 1,250 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $308,650.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,130,438.84. The trade was a 2.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Troy L. Rohrbaugh sold 25,000 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.02, for a total value of $6,175,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 133,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,947,774.62. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 76,848 shares of company stock valued at $19,987,908 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On JPMorgan Chase & Co.

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JPM. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada bought a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JPM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $273.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $269.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group boosted 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 note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, JPMorgan Chase & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.06.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Company Profile

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.