American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by Plancorp LLC

Plancorp LLC grew its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,830 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 36,719.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $300,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009,042 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $292,081,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 35,213.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after acquiring an additional 316,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in American Express by 73.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $191,842,000 after acquiring an additional 300,138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $270.48 on Friday. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $298.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.31.

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, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC raised their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $303.52.

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.