Procyon Advisors LLC Has $981,000 Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,239 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $981,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northstar Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $227,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Jacobs & Co. CA boosted its stake in American Express by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 40,808 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $7,645,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, S.A. Mason LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 5,146 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $964,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of American Express from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Stephens upgraded shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $189.00.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP traded down $0.92 on Thursday, reaching $226.83. 301,121 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,126,237. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $164.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $231.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.31.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.41%.

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.