Nicholas Investment Partners LP Increases Stock Position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Nicholas Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,174 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $4,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in JPM. Atlas Private Wealth Management lifted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Management now owns 27,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,942,000 after buying an additional 2,834 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 50,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,416,000 after buying an additional 6,264 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 61.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 1,092,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,863,000 after buying an additional 416,194 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 46.4% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 43,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,612,000 after buying an additional 13,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,723,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,579,000 after buying an additional 26,285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.94% of the company’s stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Price Performance

NYSE JPM opened at $152.82 on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 52 week low of $123.11 and a 52 week high of $159.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $441.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $145.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.20.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 13th. The financial services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.95 by $0.38. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 22.79% and a return on equity of 17.97%. The firm had revenue of $40.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.12 EPS. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 16.67 EPS for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 6th were issued a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 5th. This is a boost from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $233.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $158.00 target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research note on Friday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Atlantic Securities upped their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 4,310 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.86, for a total value of $624,346.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 53,425 shares in the company, valued at $7,739,145.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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 to consumers and small businesses; mortgage origination and servicing activities; residential mortgages and home equity loans; and credit cards, auto loans, leases, and travel services.