American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Graypoint LLC

Graypoint LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,141 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its stake in American Express by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,666 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,275,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its stake in American Express by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,963 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,550,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 7,526 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,234,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 311,029 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $84,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,770 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $272.64.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $294.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $207.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12 month low of $177.81 and a 12 month high of $307.82. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $296.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $269.09.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

American Express 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.