D.A. Davidson & CO. Purchases 452 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,311 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in American Express were worth $9,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of 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 period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. HSBC boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Compass Point decreased their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

American Express Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AXP opened at $312.52 on Wednesday. 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 $209.10 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $307.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $282.90.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released 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 return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.