American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Northstar Advisory Group LLC

Northstar Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 25.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,689 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 341 shares during the quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First National Corp MA ADV acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000. Jacobs & Co. CA raised its position 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 valued at $7,645,000 after buying an additional 1,944 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC raised its position 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 valued at $964,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC increased its position in American Express by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 35,478 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,646,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on American Express from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Barclays upped their price target on American Express from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on American Express in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $235.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $189.00.

American Express Trading Down 0.3 %

AXP stock opened at $227.06 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $210.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.36 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 fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $231.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

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.