Hartline Investment Corp Grows Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Hartline Investment Corp increased its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,271 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $317,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,028 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 5,877 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,744,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 5,252 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,559,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 72.4% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $310.13 on Tuesday. 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 one year low of $207.61 and a one year high of $326.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $306.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.31. The stock has a market cap of $218.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

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.