Darden Wealth Group Inc Increases Stock Position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Darden Wealth Group Inc raised its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the quarter. Darden Wealth Group Inc’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $1,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JPM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $8,310,884,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 34,259.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,499,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $838,865,000 after purchasing an additional 3,489,314 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $259,038,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,073,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,338,955,000 after buying an additional 1,016,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE purchased a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $222,998,000. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Down 8.1 %

NYSE:JPM opened at $210.09 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $254.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $241.75. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 12 month low of $179.20 and a 12 month high of $280.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $587.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.01.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.78. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 20.96% and a return on equity of 16.99%. 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 prior year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 EPS for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders 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 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.37%.

Insider Activity at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In related news, CEO Troy L. Rohrbaugh sold 37,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.84, for a total transaction of $10,119,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 158,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,737,529.04. The trade was a 19.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robin Leopold sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.09, for a total transaction of $337,612.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,606,323.93. This trade represents a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 76,848 shares of company stock worth $19,987,908 over the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JPM has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $304.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird raised JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $257.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $285.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.83.

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.