Burford Brothers Inc. Has $1.08 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Burford Brothers Inc. lessened its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,625 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 51 shares during the quarter. Burford Brothers Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Willis Investment Counsel grew its stake in American Express by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 53,983 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $16,022,000 after buying an additional 1,361 shares during the last quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $214,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 29,892 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,872,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,172 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 25,904 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,702,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point cut 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 note on Monday, January 27th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $317.12 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 1 year low of $199.88 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $304.98 and a 200-day moving average of $277.54.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is 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.