It has not been a great day for bank stock JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM). Several unfortunate news items all hit at the same time, and in turn, investors fled. They didn’t flee in droves, thankfully, but nearly 1.5% of JPMorgan’s market cap left with them in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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The first hit to JPMorgan came when word emerged that Chase—which serves as the retail lending arm of JPMorgan Chase in the U.K.—would ban any transaction linked to cryptocurrency starting October 16. That includes not only debit card payments linked to crypto but also outgoing bank transfers, which seems to mean that Chase customers will basically be disallowed from buying or selling cryptocurrency through any Chase instrument. The reason is familiar enough: concerns over “online scams” that attempt to steal via cryptocurrency.
Meanwhile, the second hit came as JPMorgan was obliged to write a check for $75 million to settle a lawsuit connected to Jeffrey Epstein. The lawsuit alleged that JPMorgan Chase provided aid to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operations, and now, JPMorgan has quietly closed that chapter out with the signing of this latest check, reports note. The case was naturally embarrassing to the bank, and being able to remove at least some of the stain of this moral turpitude—not to mention the legal troubles—will likely be worth that $75 million check.
Is It a Good Time to Buy JPMorgan Stock?
At any rate, JPMorgan is still on solid ground with analysts. JPMorgan stock is currently rated a Moderate Buy by analyst consensus, thanks to 15 Buy ratings and seven Holds. Further, JPMorgan stock comes with an upside potential of 17.69% thanks to its average price target of $170.09.
