692 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Purchased by Sebold Capital Management Inc.

Sebold Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 692 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in American Express by 332.0% during the third 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. acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of AXP opened at $312.51 on Thursday. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $313.96. The business’s fifty day moving average is $297.91 and its 200-day moving average is $270.60. 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 firm has a market cap of $220.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors 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 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Compass Point raised their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.09.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last 90 days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.