Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $268,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 903 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,104,735,000 after purchasing an additional 86,100 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in American Express by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,600,277,000 after buying an additional 95,927 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,785,867,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 0.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,074,168,000 after acquiring an additional 33,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,434 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,151,080,000 after acquiring an additional 14,282 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point dropped their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $269.25 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $294.15 and a 200 day moving average of $289.78. The company has a market capitalization of $189.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52-week low of $214.51 and a 52-week high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

American Express 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.