Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 167,546 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 139% compared to the typical daily volume of 70,225 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On JPMorgan Chase & Co.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:JPM traded up $1.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $241.90. The stock had a trading volume of 4,459,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,779,617. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $239.32 and its 200 day moving average is $220.65. The stock has a market cap of $681.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.11. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $164.30 and a fifty-two week high of $254.31.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $43.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 17.62 earnings per share for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s payout ratio is 27.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on JPM shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $269.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday. Baird R W lowered shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley cut JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $224.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.82.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Company Profile

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.