American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stake Boosted by Jag Capital Management LLC

Jag Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,482 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 430.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its holdings in American Express by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,626,000 after buying an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $295.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $307.36 and a 200-day moving average of $287.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 12-month low of $214.51 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 19.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.