WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 723 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s 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 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. 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. Citigroup increased their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted 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. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Trading Up 0.5 %

AXP opened at $312.52 on Wednesday. The firm 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 fifty-two week low of $209.10 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The company’s 50-day moving average is $307.46 and its 200 day moving average is $283.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid 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 payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.