Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Lowers Stock Holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. decreased its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 25.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 562 shares during the quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on JPM shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $224.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $211.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $240.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.31.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Price Performance

Shares of JPM opened at $249.79 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $226.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.26. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $152.72 and a fifty-two week high of $254.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $703.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.35. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 19.64% and a return on equity of 16.71%. The firm had revenue of $43.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 17.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is a boost from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.82%.

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; 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.