American Express (NYSE:AXP) Position Reduced by Barton Investment Management

Barton Investment Management lowered its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,735 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Barton Investment Management’s holdings in American Express were worth $515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in American Express by 26,783.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after buying an additional 906,353 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 35,213.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $86,002,000 after buying an additional 316,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in American Express by 73.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $191,842,000 after buying an additional 300,138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $320.26 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $305.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $278.72. American Express has a 52-week low of $204.00 and a 52-week high of $326.27. The firm has a market cap of $225.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research lifted their target price on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial began coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.