American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 15.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,620 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,111 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for about 1.5% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $31,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its stake in American Express by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 2,202 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $589,000. Lmcg Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC grew its position in American Express by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 5,172 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,535,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC increased its stake in American Express by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 26,084 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,741,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

American Express Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE AXP opened at $312.75 on Tuesday. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $315.40. The company has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $299.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $272.78. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.