Catalyst Financial Partners LLC Has $750,000 Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,527 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $750,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $307.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $216.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 12-month low of $208.82 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $306.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.42.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were 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 directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AXP. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express 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.