As the world economic is still in uncertainty state, J.P Morgan's CEO, James Dimon reportedly bought 500,000 of his own bank's shares as a way to counter the negative effect that is hitting most banks related shares. The personal purchase was reported to be worth around $26 million.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the latest purchase means that Mr. Dimon currently holds about 6,746,402 shares in J.P Morgan with a total value of around $357.7 million. Besides acting as a counter effect, Mr. Dimon also told reporters that the purchase is considered as a good investment considering the share is currently traded at a discount price.
Based on Bloomberg's data, J.P. Morgan shares had stumbled by 20 percent since the start of this year. The shares purchase is seen by analysts as a good sign that there might be a possible rebound in J.P Morgan's shares soon.
Mike Mayo, an analyst with CLSA said that "Jamie Dimon stepped up to the plate" through his latest purchase. However, Mayo also reminded that there is no guarantee in the investment world as he said that "Either a financial catastrophe, or this is an epic buying opportunity, or Dimon is in a position to know what outcome is more likely."
The firm which is currently the biggest US lender by assets released its report last December revealing the company's net worth to be $48.13 per shares as reported by Reuters. The valuation is considered great as most banks around the world including Bank of America and Deutsche Bank also suffer declining shares price by more than 32 percent.
The recent moves by Mr. Dimon are not something new as lots of executives and directors has been acquiring more stakes in their company to maintain their prices and valuation. According to Bloomberg, around 699 executives has been acquiring shares within this past one month alone.
Among them are the CEO and Chairman of Citigroup Bank which bought $1 million worth of shares at the end of January after the company's stock had dropped to its lowest in 3 years. On the 1st of February, the CFO of Huntington Bancshares also was reported to acquire an additional 25,000 shares after the stocks plunged by 22 percent as of this year.
News regarding shares purchase done by the company's own executive will always be translated as a positive sign by investors. J.P. Morgans's shares climbed by 2 percent during Thursday trading hours as soon as the news broke out to the public.
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