Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Takes $214,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 720 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $295.23 on Monday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $212.48 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $307.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $285.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $207.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point decreased their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

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.