Carret Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Carret Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 55,241 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,464 shares during the period. American Express makes up approximately 1.8% of Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $16,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AXP. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $256.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $302.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.88. The firm has a market cap of $180.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

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.