Westpac Banking Corp Buys 27,680 Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. $JPM

Westpac Banking Corp increased its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 43.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 91,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,680 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. comprises about 1.8% of Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $26,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 212.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on JPM shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $336.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. KGI Securities raised their price objective on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, JPMorgan Chase & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $326.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other JPMorgan Chase & Co. news, Director Linda Bammann sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.94, for a total value of $2,830,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 82,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,492,753.58. This trade represents a 10.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Robin Leopold sold 966 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.92, for a total value of $301,314.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 58,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,240,769.68. This represents a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:JPM opened at $303.22 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $825.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.14. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a one year low of $202.16 and a one year high of $322.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $307.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $5.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.83 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $47.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.42 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 20.90% and a return on equity of 17.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.37 EPS. Analysts anticipate that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 6th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 6th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 29.72%.

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.