Berbice Capital Management LLC Makes New $341,000 Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,150 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $341,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LexAurum Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $223,000. RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 11,194 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Services purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $868,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,220 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $956,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $319.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $224.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $300.94 and a 200 day moving average of $273.70. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $186.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen raised their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

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.