Orrstown Financial Services Inc. Has $1.53 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Orrstown Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 15.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,158 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 685 shares during the quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its position in American Express by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,935 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $871,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $6,046,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 122,225 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $36,275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039 shares during the last quarter. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. now owns 10,983 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 45,422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $13,481,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC lifted 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. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.50.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock traded up $1.14 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $318.18. 138,910 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,617,105. American Express has a 1-year low of $199.88 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $303.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $276.27. The company has a market cap of $224.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

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.