JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,260,000 shares, a decline of 6.4% from the October 15th total of 28,070,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,630,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on JPM shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $217.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $211.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $232.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $240.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, JPMorgan Chase & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On JPMorgan Chase & Co.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 4.9% in the second quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 14,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,867,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 5,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,143,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Sageworth Trust Co raised its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sageworth Trust Co now owns 2,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 16.0% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 692,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,594,000 after acquiring an additional 95,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 7.6% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 547,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,682,000 after acquiring an additional 38,548 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Down 0.8 %

JPM opened at $243.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.92. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $151.92 and a fifty-two week high of $248.00. The company has a market cap of $684.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last issued 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 company had revenue of $43.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.43 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 19.64% and a return on equity of 16.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 17.62 earnings per share for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This is an increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.82%.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

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.