First International Bank & Trust Has $1.15 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

First International Bank & Trust grew its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,888 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up approximately 0.4% of First International Bank & Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. First International Bank & Trust’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 86.7% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,910 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 887 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 28,822 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,674,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in American Express by 7.5% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 602,832 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $139,586,000 after purchasing an additional 42,238 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in American Express by 44.8% during the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 4,580 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Compass Point increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America lifted their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Up 0.3 %

AXP stock opened at $302.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $296.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.66. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $307.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

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.