Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Has $2.78 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Citigroup increased their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $294.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $307.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $285.99. American Express has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.