RFG Advisory LLC Buys 1,392 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,194 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AXP. MFA Wealth Services acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $868,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,220 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $956,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in American Express by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,924,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Conway Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Conway Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,050 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $212,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $320.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a twelve month low of $186.43 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $301.67 and a 200 day moving average of $274.06.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. Barclays boosted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group boosted their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price target on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.