J.P. Morgan shares close higher on Monday, bank establishes new data solutions business in its Securities Services unit

The Securities Services division of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co (JPM) will establish a new Data Solutions business that will bring together several projects already underway at the Wall Street bank, including post-trade analysis services and a new asset management platform, according to a report by Reuters, citing a J.P. Morgan memo.

The new business is to be headed by Gerard Francis, who previously led enterprise data solutions at Bloomberg.

He is expected to report to Teresa Heitsenrether, J.P. Morgan’s executive vice president and global chief securities officer.

“Data is an increasingly important focus area for our clients as advances in data science and technology open up new opportunities to optimize investor results,” Teresa Heitsenrether said in the memo.

J.P. Morgan Chase shares closed higher for a second consecutive trading session in New York on Monday. The stock went up 1.43% ($2.23) to $158.00, after touching an intraday high at $159.16. The latter has been a price level not seen since June 14th ($160.33).

Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co have risen 24.34% so far in 2021 compared with a 16.73% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2020, J.P. Morgan Chase’s stock went down 8.85%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 16.26% gain.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to TipRanks, at least 8 out of 13 surveyed investment analysts had rated J.P. Morgan Chase & Co’s stock as “Buy”, while 4 – as “Hold”. The median price target on the stock stands at $173.55.