700 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Purchased by Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC bought a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 700 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express by 430.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after buying an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in American Express by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $103,858,000 after buying an additional 12,364 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its stake in American Express by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after buying an additional 2,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC increased its stake in American Express by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $264.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $300.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $288.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. American Express has a one year low of $214.51 and a one year high of $326.28. The company has a market cap of $185.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced 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 net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on AXP. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point decreased their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.24.

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.