one8zero8 LLC Makes New Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

one8zero8 LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,320 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $985,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diversified Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 12,174 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,613,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investment Management LLC now owns 3,050 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $905,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 8,240 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Midwest Professional Planners LTD. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 12,267 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,641,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Compass Point cut their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.24.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $266.04 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $301.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.20. The stock has a market cap of $186.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $214.51 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share 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, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. The trade was 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 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.