Inlet Private Wealth LLC Purchases 44 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Inlet Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,795 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 44 shares during the quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in American Express by 105.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 19,400 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,066 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in shares of American Express by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 9,224 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,502,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of American Express by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 114,408 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $31,027,000 after acquiring an additional 6,122 shares during the period. Finally, Sterneck Capital Management LLC bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth $259,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $317.12 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $304.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $277.34. American Express has a 1 year low of $199.88 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The firm has a market cap of $223.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction 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. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on 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 downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

American Express Company 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.