Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 15,211 Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Merit Financial Group LLC lowered its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 25.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 45,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,211 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $7,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $1,017,893,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 12.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 42,421,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,151,997,000 after purchasing an additional 4,603,090 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth about $253,076,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 155.2% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 2,246,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $382,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 3,025.7% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,267,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,806,000 after buying an additional 1,226,905 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on JPM shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $226.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $196.00 to $195.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.05.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:JPM opened at $197.53 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $567.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a one year low of $133.13 and a one year high of $200.94. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.32.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $4.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $41.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.90 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a return on equity of 17.79% and a net margin of 20.05%. As a group, analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. This is an increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Insider Activity at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In other JPMorgan Chase & Co. news, insider Ashley Bacon sold 3,368 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.00, for a total transaction of $602,872.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 202,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,174,647. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ashley Bacon sold 3,368 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.00, for a total value of $602,872.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 202,093 shares in the company, valued at $36,174,647. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jennifer Piepszak sold 1,648 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.96, for a total transaction of $294,926.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,873,288.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,063,506 shares of company stock valued at $195,024,605 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.