Financial Counselors Inc. Decreases Stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Financial Counselors Inc. trimmed its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 467,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,215 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. accounts for 1.6% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $111,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of JPM. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Down 2.1 %

JPM stock opened at $242.97 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $257.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.77. The company has a market cap of $679.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $179.20 and a fifty-two week high of $280.25.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is a positive change from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on JPM. Robert W. Baird raised shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $257.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Baird R W upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $304.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, JPMorgan Chase & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.89.

Insider Activity

In other JPMorgan Chase & Co. news, CEO Troy L. Rohrbaugh sold 37,500 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 approximately $42,737,529.04. The trade was a 19.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.94, for a total value of $838,763.82. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 47,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,092,622.80. This trade represents a 6.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 76,848 shares of company stock worth $19,987,908 over the last three months. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. 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.