Guardian Partners Inc. Buys New Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 28,719 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,698,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $270.48 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $298.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.55. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.28. The company has a market capitalization of $190.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.41%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America cut their target price on American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. BTIG Research raised their target price on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.52.

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.