Hopwood Financial Services Inc. Acquires New Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 1,017 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its position in American Express by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Auxier Asset Management increased its holdings in American Express by 0.5% during the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abel Hall LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report 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 report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Three research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $255.38 on Wednesday. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $303.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.29. The firm has a market cap of $179.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

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.