American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stake Boosted by Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,671 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 92 shares during the quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research upped their target price on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $317.12 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $304.98 and its 200-day moving average is $277.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. American Express has a 52 week low of $199.88 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The company has a market capitalization of $223.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23.

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 return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is 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.