Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Has $253,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 851 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Express by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 6,625 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,966,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 12,017 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,567,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,081 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after buying an additional 2,125 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,383 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $707,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in American Express by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,202 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,841,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $281.00.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $320.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $226.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $186.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $302.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $274.66.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % 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.

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.