Stonebridge Financial Group LLC Makes New $317,000 Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 2,862 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth $250,000. Sapient Capital LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 101.8% during the third quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 4,678 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,269,000 after buying an additional 2,360 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its holdings in American Express by 653.3% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 39,835 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $10,803,000 after buying an additional 34,547 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,178 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $309.61 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $306.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $218.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 12-month low of $207.61 and a 12-month 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, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research upped their price objective on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upped 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 in the last 90 days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Company 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.