American Express (NYSE:AXP) Holdings Boosted by Western Financial Corp CA

Western Financial Corp CA grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,330 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. American Express comprises approximately 1.0% of Western Financial Corp CA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Western Financial Corp CA’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $29,000. 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 purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.6 %

American Express stock opened at $317.12 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $304.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $277.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 12 month low of $199.88 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The stock has a market cap of $223.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share 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, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

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.