Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 418 shares during the quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $2,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 70,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,784,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 0.9% in the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 231,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,745,000 after buying an additional 2,116 shares in the last quarter. Sageworth Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 37.9% in the third quarter. Sageworth Trust Co now owns 2,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 26.1% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 80,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,012,000 after buying an additional 16,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 10.1% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 741,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $156,332,000 after buying an additional 67,900 shares in the last quarter. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Performance

JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock opened at $222.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $640.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $215.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.02. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 52 week low of $136.04 and a 52 week high of $226.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $43.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.43 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 20.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 16.75 earnings per share for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This is an increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s payout ratio is 27.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on JPM shares. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $234.00 to $232.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley downgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $220.00 to $224.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $217.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. 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.