Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Purchases 37 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. lifted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,498 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 37 shares during the quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $317.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $304.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $277.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $199.88 and a 12-month high of $326.27. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (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 forecast that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point lowered their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.