Compass Capital Corp MA ADV Makes New $415,000 Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Compass Capital Corp MA ADV acquired a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,304 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $415,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd 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. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % 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 valued at $9,613,503 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Down 2.8 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $295.23 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $307.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $284.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 12-month low of $212.48 and a 12-month high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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 expect that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

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.