Capital Planning LLC Acquires New Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Capital Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 718 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.2 %

AXP opened at $311.69 on Friday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week high of $314.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company’s 50-day moving average is $298.26 and its 200 day moving average is $270.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last ninety days. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

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.