American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Position Decreased by JLB & Associates Inc.

JLB & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,123 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 790 shares during the quarter. JLB & Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 55,053 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $14,930,000 after purchasing an additional 7,990 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at about $525,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.7% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 55,723 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $15,112,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 8,639.9% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,559 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,660,000 after acquiring an additional 24,278 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $304.08 on Friday. American Express has a twelve month low of $209.10 and a twelve month high of $326.27. 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 firm has a market cap of $213.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $307.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $283.79.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.