Family Capital Management Inc. Increases Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Family Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,629 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Family Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in American Express by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,104,735,000 after purchasing an additional 86,100 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in American Express by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,249,415,000 after buying an additional 239,173 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,074,168,000 after purchasing an additional 33,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in American Express by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after acquiring an additional 247,864 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $307.49 on Friday. American Express has a 12 month low of $208.82 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $306.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.42. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly 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, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value 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 have sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC upped their target price 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. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Compass Point lowered their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

American Express 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.