Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Makes New Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 230 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 36,719.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $300,289,000 after buying an additional 1,009,042 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $292,081,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 35,213.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $86,002,000 after purchasing an additional 316,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in American Express by 73.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $191,842,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.57.

American Express Stock Up 2.8 %

AXP opened at $277.98 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.99. American Express has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $195.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

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%. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 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.