JLB & Associates Inc. Has $5.68 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

JLB & Associates Inc. lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,123 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 790 shares during the quarter. JLB & Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 332.0% in the third 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 period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment 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, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of AXP opened at $304.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $307.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $283.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $213.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 52 week low of $209.10 and a 52 week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

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.