Stifel Financial Corp Acquires 10,141 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 625,695 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,141 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned 0.09% of American Express worth $185,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $295.05.

American Express Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of American Express stock traded down $2.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $264.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,939,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,845,934. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $267.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $287.33. 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 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

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.