Everhart Financial Group Inc. Acquires 966 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,393 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 966 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Auxier Asset Management raised its holdings in 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 period. Abel Hall LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its holdings in American Express by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $311.37 on Friday. American Express has a 12 month low of $209.10 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $306.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $282.04. The firm has a market cap of $219.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. 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 (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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen increased their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. 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 report on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. 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 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.