PDS Planning Inc Raises Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

PDS Planning Inc raised its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,967 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in American Express were worth $880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 69.5% during the fourth quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,215 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,845,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $308,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,756 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 979 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.24.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AXP opened at $264.36 on Tuesday. 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 $300.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $288.45. American Express has a 1-year low of $214.51 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $185.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

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.