Klingman & Associates LLC Makes New $203,000 Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Klingman & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 683 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC increased their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price objective on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 in the last three months. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.9 %

American Express stock opened at $309.90 on Thursday. American Express has a twelve month low of $209.10 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $307.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $283.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 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, research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. 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.