Mellody Hobson, a director at JPMorgan Chase (JPM), recently added 375 shares. The purchase cost the director $50,448, and increased her stake by less than 1 percent.
Hobson was the last buyer of shares at the company one year prior, with a 670 shares pickup for just over $100,000. In the past year, company insiders have largely been sellers of shares, both from existing holdings and from the exercise of options.
Overall, company insiders own 0.9 percent of shares.
The money center bank is down about 7 percent over the past year, performing slightly better than the overall stock market. That’s even as earnings and revenue grew just under 6 percent each last year.
Even with that slow earnings growth, given high inflation and lower loan demand due to higher interest rates, it shows the bank is well managed for today’s environment. That’s also demonstrated by the bank’s 30 percent profit margin.
Action to take: Investors may like shares for the long term at or under current prices. The bank yields about 3 percent right now. While that dividend hasn’t grown over the past year, the low payout ratio leaves room for future income growth.
For traders, the stock has trended higher since October. The March $145 calls, last going for about $1.75, offer mid-to-high double-digit gains in the coming weeks on a further move higher for shares.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.