CENTRAL TRUST Co Buys 144 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,892 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in American Express by 105.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 19,400 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of American Express by 5.7% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 114,408 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $31,027,000 after purchasing an additional 6,122 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 2.8% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 16,404 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,449,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the period. Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial assumed coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $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 currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $317.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $223.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $199.88 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $304.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $277.54.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.88%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

About American Express

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.