JPMorgan Chase Acquires College Financial Planning Platform Frank

Financial services major JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) recently announced that it has acquired Frank, a college financial planning platform. The financial terms of the deal have been kept under wraps.

Following the news, shares of the company appreciated marginally on Tuesday. The stock, however, pared its gains slightly to close at $152.66 in extended trade.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. will acquire Frank’s entire business, including its Easy FAFSA®, Classfinder College Course Marketplace, Scholarships & Employment tools, and Financial Education and Careers content.

The Co-CEO of JPMorgan, Jennifer Piepszak, said, “Frank offers a unique opportunity for deeper engagement with students. Together, we’ll be able to expand our capabilities for students and their families, helping them financially prepare for college and other major moments in their future.” (See JP Morgan stock chart on TipRanks)

Recently, Jefferies analyst Ken Usdin assigned a Buy rating to the stock with a price target of $177. The analyst’s price target implies upside potential of 15.7% from current levels.

The analyst said, “The Co-President and Chief Operating Officer of JPMorgan Chase, Daniel Pinto, is optimistic on the global economy, notwithstanding bumps from the delta variant. JPM sees recent strength in IB fees as having duration, with pipelines remaining strong. Trading has started to normalize, but has held up better-than-expected. JPM believes it can at least maintain its market share positions in IB/trading and add in Wholesale Payments and Securities Services.”

The Wall Street community is cautiously optimistic about the stock and has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 7 Buys, 4 Holds and 1 Sell. The average JPMorgan Chase & Co. price target of $167.8 implies that the stock has upside potential of 9.7% from current levels.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. scores a 7 out of 10 from TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, indicating that the stock is likely to perform in line with market expectations. Shares have gained about 62.3% over the past year.