American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Holdings Lifted by Sunflower Bank N.A.

Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $215,000. Eastern Bank increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 248,695 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $73,810,000 after acquiring an additional 2,218 shares during the last quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. Cooper Financial Group raised its stake in shares of American Express by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 2,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,402 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,344,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $277.82.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP traded up $4.03 during trading on Monday, reaching $297.33. 2,113,213 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,208,373. The company has a market capitalization of $209.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week high of $307.82. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $296.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $269.64.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. 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.