First Dallas Securities Inc. Has $1.61 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

First Dallas Securities Inc. reduced its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 37.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,412 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,284 shares during the quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of AXP opened at $316.43 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $304.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $277.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. American Express has a 52 week low of $203.42 and a 52 week high of $326.27.

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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Compass Point lowered their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

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.