Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Sells 218 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lowered its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,058 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 218 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $18,715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lowered their price target on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.24.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $233.50 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $288.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.44. American Express has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.28. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $164.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS 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 research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.