GFG Capital LLC Purchases 56 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

GFG Capital LLC grew its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,407 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. American Express accounts for 0.8% of GFG Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. GFG Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning raised its position in American Express by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 161,031 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $43,672,000 after purchasing an additional 7,328 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,284 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of American Express by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 39,080 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $10,598,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 9,659 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,620,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 44,857 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,165,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Compass Point dropped their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $307.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.95, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $306.67 and a 200-day moving average of $281.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $208.82 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

About American Express

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.