Stonehaven Wealth & Tax Solutions LLC Takes $486,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Stonehaven Wealth & Tax Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,637 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $486,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. BTIG Research increased their target price on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $291.57.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded down $11.13 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $240.18. 1,562,124 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,862,884. American Express has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $326.28. The company has a market capitalization of $168.73 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $272.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. This is an increase from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 22.91%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.