Bank of Jackson Hole Trust Purchases New Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 726 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $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 in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $312.52 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market capitalization of $220.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 12 month low of $209.10 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $307.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $283.46.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup increased their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

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.