Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Sells 9,537 Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. $JPM

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lessened its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 55.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,537 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. accounts for about 1.3% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $2,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JPM. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 609,867.5% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 72,897,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,133,630,000 after purchasing an additional 72,885,260 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 1st quarter worth about $3,972,807,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 44.4% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,518,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,108,415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,388,992 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 1st quarter worth about $279,389,000. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 1st quarter worth about $278,493,000. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE JPM opened at $305.35 on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 52-week low of $202.16 and a 52-week high of $318.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $839.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $301.37 and a 200-day moving average of $276.26.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.48 by $0.48. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 16.93%. The company had revenue of $44.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 6th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 30.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on JPM. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $336.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company 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 report on Monday, September 8th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $313.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Linda Bammann sold 9,500 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.94, for a total transaction of $2,830,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 82,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,492,753.58. The trade was a 10.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.