True North Advisors LLC Has $384,000 Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

True North Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,293 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $322.48 on Thursday. American Express has a 1 year low of $184.81 and a 1 year high of $322.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $300.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $273.36. The stock has a market cap of $227.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.23. 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 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 issued 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 0.87%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express 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 sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.09.

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.