Eastern Bank Purchases 2,218 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Eastern Bank boosted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 248,695 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,218 shares during the period. American Express makes up approximately 1.4% of Eastern Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Eastern Bank’s holdings in American Express were worth $73,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $200,000. Cooper Financial Group grew its stake in shares of American Express by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 2,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 663 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in American Express by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,402 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,344,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,334 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc grew its stake in American Express by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 1,456 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $277.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $4.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $297.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,495,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,091,271. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. 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 fifty day moving average price of $296.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $269.64. American Express has a one year low of $177.81 and a one year high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.