TAGStone Capital Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

TAGStone Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,464 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for approximately 1.4% of TAGStone Capital Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. TAGStone Capital Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the 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 trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % 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 Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE AXP opened at $270.48 on Monday. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $190.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $298.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.52.

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.