Klingman & Associates LLC Purchases Shares of 683 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Klingman & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 683 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $309.90 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $307.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $283.65. The stock has a market cap of $217.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 52-week low of $209.10 and a 52-week high of $326.27.

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 return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

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.