Parthenon LLC Has $20.67 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Parthenon LLC grew its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up 2.5% of Parthenon LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $20,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought 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 during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on AXP shares. HSBC upped their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $309.90 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $307.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $283.65. American Express has a 52 week low of $209.10 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. Company 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.