How To Buy JPMorgan (JPM) Stock (2024)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) isn’t just an old and storied name in banking—it’s also one of the biggest publicly traded financial stocks.

Though it may not have the same level of influence it once held over the U.S. financial system—single-handedly bailing out the U.S. Treasury, for instance—it’s still an awfully big financial services company, with very broad and sophisticated operations. There’s nary a segment of the U.S. economy that JPMorgan doesn’t touch in one way or another, which makes it a compelling investment for many investors.

And that’s without even mentioning its recent historical performance: It’s up more than 70% in the last five years. If all of that has you ready to buy shares of JPM, here’s what you need to know.

How to Buy JP Morgan

1. Pick a Brokerage

If you already have a broker that you use for buying and selling stocks, then this step is fairly easy—you’ll probably just want to use your existing platform and skip to step two or three.

If you don’t have a broker, meanwhile, research a few different online brokers and investment apps and carefully consider your options. Check to see what types of accounts each platform offers, like individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and general taxable investment accounts.

Whatever firm you decide to work with, you should check the fees and costs associated with trading JPM and other stocks. Ideally, you want a brokerage that charges no trading fees and has low or zero minimum balance requirements.

2. Evaluate JPMorgan’s Finances

Before you buy JPMorgan stock, take time to examine the company’s finances. This will help you determine whether you’re comfortable with how it’s being managed and the risks involved in its operations.

You can find information about the company’s finances, including Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings and other disclosures, on the company’s investor relations page or the SEC’s database. You can supplement that with the kind of insights and research you may find at your brokerage or at trusted third parties like Morningstar.

3. Figure Out How Much You Want to Invest

Once you know you want to invest in JPMorgan stock, the next question is how much to buy. To decide, think about your overall finances and the role you want your shares to play in your overall portfolio.

Do you have enough to cover your living expenses? How about an emergency fund? Are you saving enough for retirement?

If the answer isn’t yes to those questions, you may want to hold off on buying JP Morgan stock until you’ve shored up your finances some. But if it is, you’re free to invest in the difference in stocks like JPM—and others.

As you move forward, you’ll also want to keep in mind JPM’s share price. Because it’s recently traded at almost $160 per share, you may want to buy what’s called fractional shares so you can divide your money around more companies. If you’re planning to do this, make sure your brokerage offers this as not all do.

4. Determine Your Order Type and Place Your Order

To buy JPMorgan, you’ll need to log into your investment account and place an order. You then have to decide what kind of order you’d like.

For beginning investors, there are two main order types to consider: market and limit orders.

With a market order, you buy shares at whatever the current market price is when you enter your order.

A limit order, on the other hand, lets you set the price you’re willing to pay for shares, and your order is only executed if shares can be purchased for the price you enter. This may be particularly helpful for stocks you expect to experience wild price swings, perhaps even within the time you place your order and when it’s executed.

5. Evaluate JPMorgan’s Performance

After you buy your JPM shares, make a point to keep an eye on the stock’s performance as well as any news about the company.

Stock prices change almost every second of the working day—and often into late nights and wee mornings, too. So you’ll want to avoid constantly monitoring it for peaks and dips. Instead, check in on its percentage return over regular periods, say every six months or year, to see how it stacks up to other similar stocks as well as to broad market indexes, like the

You should also remember to monitor how its financials, like the filings you looked at when you bought JPM in the first place, change and grow over time.

How to Sell JPMorgan Shares

As with all investments, inevitably, the time comes for you to sell. To do so, you simply need to log into your investment account again, enter the number of shares or dollar amount you want and select a sell order type.

While this process is pretty easy, you should keep one key thing top of mind: taxes. If you bought shares in a normal investment account (meaning something that isn’t taxed-advantaged like an IRA or 429), you very well may owe taxes if you’ve turned a profit.

If you’re looking at a substantial windfall, be sure to speak with a tax professional about how you can minimize the so-called capital gains taxes you may owe.

Other Ways to Invest in JPMorgan

Trading individual stocks isn’t for everyone. Because you’re focusing your money on just a few companies’ performances, it can require substantial research and risk tolerance to manage successfully.

That’s why financial experts recommend most people focus on index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These investment vehicles let you buy exposure to hundreds or thousands of companies with a single share.

Luckily, JPMorgan is incredibly easy to find in index funds. It’s the 11th largest component in the S&P 500 by weight, after all. That means in most and ETFs, you’ll have just over 1% of each share devoted to JPM. If you’d prefer to take on a little more JPMorgan exposure in a diversified investment, you may consider sector-based index funds as well.

Disclosure: The author owns shares in JPMorgan as of this writing.