YHB Investment Advisors Inc. Has $1.77 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,961 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.50.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $316.23 on Tuesday. American Express has a 52-week low of $199.07 and a 52-week high of $326.27. The stock has a market cap of $222.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $302.35 and a 200-day moving average of $275.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.