40,431 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Bought by Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC

Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 40,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,000,000. American Express makes up approximately 7.5% of Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. BTIG Research lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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, StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Trading Down 0.8 %

AXP opened at $293.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $307.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $285.86. American Express has a one year low of $213.25 and a one year high of $326.27. The stock has a market cap of $205.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% 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.