Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Has $651,000 Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,199 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.57.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of AXP opened at $265.16 on Monday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $214.51 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $295.02 and a 200 day moving average of $289.68. The firm has a market cap of $186.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.41%.

About American Express

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.