8,781 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Purchased by Jackson Square Capital LLC

Jackson Square Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 8,781 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auxier Asset Management raised its stake in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC increased its stake in American Express by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its position in American Express by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.5% in the third quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.09.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $312.75 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $299.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $315.40. The firm has a market cap of $220.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. 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 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.