Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 29.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,982 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $2,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DDD Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. DDD Partners LLC now owns 1,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC raised its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Almanack Investment Partners LLC. lifted its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. now owns 5,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.94, for a total value of $838,763.82. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 47,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,092,622.80. This trade represents a 6.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Robin Leopold sold 1,250 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.09, for a total value of $337,612.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,377 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 76,848 shares of company stock worth $19,987,908. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Down 8.1 %

JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock opened at $210.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $254.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $241.29. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a twelve month low of $179.20 and a twelve month high of $280.25. The company has a market capitalization of $587.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.78. The business had revenue of $42.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.90 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 20.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 EPS for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This is a positive change from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on JPM. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial cut their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $268.00 to $264.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $257.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.83.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

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.