Catalina Capital Group LLC Increases Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AXP. Compass Point lowered their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $317.12 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $223.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $304.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $277.54. American Express has a 1-year low of $199.88 and a 1-year high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current 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 given 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 yield of 0.88%. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.