American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by Edge Capital Group LLC

Edge Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $996,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Auxier Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abel Hall LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 3.6% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several analyst reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $295.23 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $307.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $285.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a twelve month low of $212.48 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The company has a market capitalization of $207.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

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.