American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,704 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Compass Point boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $268.95.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP traded up $2.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $300.20. 434,171 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,172,638. American Express has a 12 month low of $177.81 and a 12 month high of $307.82. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $293.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $266.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $211.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

American Express Company Profile

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.