Crews Bank & Trust Buys Shares of 299 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 299 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its position in American Express by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 6,119 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,816,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Strategic Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 11,659 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,460,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 24,642 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,314,000 after buying an additional 3,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its holdings in American Express by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 3,026 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $898,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Compass Point decreased their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $317.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 12-month low of $199.88 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The company has a market cap of $223.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $304.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $276.84.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released 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 return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

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.