Orrstown Financial Services Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Orrstown Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,158 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 685 shares during the quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday. TD Cowen increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. HSBC lifted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays raised their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.50.

American Express Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:AXP traded up $1.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $318.18. 138,910 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,617,105. American Express has a 1 year low of $199.88 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $303.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $276.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. Analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

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.