Avalon Trust Co Has $188,000 Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Avalon Trust Co lifted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 634 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the quarter. Avalon Trust Co’s holdings in American Express were worth $188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W raised American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express 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 value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $266.04 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $186.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a one year low of $214.51 and a one year high of $326.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.20.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

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.