Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC Invests $442,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,490 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $442,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AXP. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup cut their price target on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.24.

American Express Stock Down 5.8 %

AXP stock opened at $233.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $164.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $288.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.