West Oak Capital LLC Reduces Stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co.

West Oak Capital LLC has significantly decreased its ownership in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 94.6% in the fourth quarter, as reported in their latest Form 13F submission to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). After this reduction, the fund now holds just 1,150 shares of the renowned financial services company, following the sale of 20,237 shares over the quarter.

As per the recent filing with the SEC, West Oak Capital LLC's investment in JPMorgan Chase & Co. is valued at approximately $276,000.

Changes by Other Hedge Funds

West Oak Capital's move is not isolated; other hedge funds have also made adjustments to their positions in JPMorgan Chase. RMR Wealth Builders increased its stake in the fourth quarter by 4.4%, bringing their total to 33,057 shares worth about $7,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,382 shares. Similarly, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings by 34.0%, resulting in 201 shares valued at $48,000 following the purchase of 51 extra shares.

HBW Advisory Services LLC also boosted its ownership by 10.6%, now managing 4,925 shares worth $1,181,000 after gaining 473 shares. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake by 2.4%, owning 60,290 shares valued at $14,452,000 after adding 1,429 shares. Lastly, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position by 0.7%, owning 192,444 shares valued at $46,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares.

Currently, institutional investors hold 71.55% of JPMorgan Chase's stock.

JPMorgan Chase Stock Performance

The stock price of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) fell by $3.11 during midday trading on Friday, resulting in a trading price of $240.02. The trading volume reached over 10 million shares, surpassing the average volume of approximately 9.4 million. The company's market capitalization stands at $675.74 billion, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has shown a simple moving average of $241.25 over the last 50 days, and $222.25 over the past 200 days, with a 52-week low and high of $164.30 and $254.31, respectively. Its current and quick ratios are both at 0.89, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Recent Earnings

JPMorgan Chase & Co. recently shared its quarterly earnings on October 11th, reporting earnings per share (EPS) of $4.37, which exceeds the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.35. The company's revenue for this quarter was $43.32 billion, again surpassing the expected $41.43 billion. This marks a 6.5% growth in revenue compared to the previous year, when the firm reported $4.33 EPS. Analysts forecast an EPS of 17.62 for the current fiscal year.

Dividend Declaration

In addition to the earnings report, the company announced a quarterly dividend to be distributed on January 31st. Shareholders who are recorded by January 6th will receive a dividend of $1.25, which amounts to an annualized dividend of $5.00 and corresponds to a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is also set for January 6th, with a current payout ratio of 27.82%.

Wall Street Analysts' Predictions

In terms of forecasts, various analysts have provided updates regarding JPMorgan Chase shares. Citigroup has raised its price target for JPMorgan Chase from $215.00 to $250.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating. Conversely, Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their target from $240.00 to $235.00, retaining an “overweight” rating. Royal Bank of Canada has also set a new price target of $230.00, up from $211.00, while Piper Sandler increased their target from $240.00 to $275.00. Barclays has the highest target, raising theirs from $257.00 to $304.00. Presently, two analysts recommend selling the stock, eight suggest holding, and eleven advocate for buying, resulting in an average consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target of $245.83 according to MarketBeat.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a global financial services company with operations segmented into four main areas: Consumer & Community Banking, Corporate & Investment Bank, Commercial Banking, and Asset & Wealth Management. The Consumer & Community Banking sector offers a variety of products including deposits, lending services, mortgage origination, and credit cards, among others.

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