2,020 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Purchased by W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,020 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $307.49 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 $216.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $306.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $281.42. American Express has a 52-week low of $208.82 and a 52-week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen increased their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

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.