William Blair Investment Management LLC Takes $34.27 Million Position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 142,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,269,000.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Robin Leopold sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.09, for a total value of $337,612.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 50,377 shares in the company, valued at $13,606,323.93. This trade represents a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Troy L. Rohrbaugh sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.02, for a total value of $6,175,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 133,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,947,774.62. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 76,848 shares of company stock worth $19,987,908 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE JPM opened at $248.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $694.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.10. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $179.20 and a fifty-two week high of $280.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $239.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.88.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.78. The company had revenue of $42.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on JPM shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $220.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research raised JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $269.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 research note on Thursday, January 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.89.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of financial and investment banking services. The firm offers a range of investment banking products and services in all capital markets, including advising on corporate strategy and structure, capital raising in equity and debt markets, risk management, market making in cash securities and derivative instruments, and brokerage and research.