Aveo Capital Partners LLC Invests $504,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Aveo Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,699 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $311.37 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $306.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $282.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1 year low of $209.10 and a 1 year high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lifted their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. HSBC lifted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.