Montag A & Associates Inc. Has $6.81 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,946 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 352 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $311.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $219.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $306.96 and a 200-day moving average of $282.04. American Express has a 12-month low of $209.10 and a 12-month high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

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.