Bank OZK Buys 781 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bank OZK increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the period. Bank OZK’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in American Express by 11.3% during the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 7,849 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,119,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at $216,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 9.5% in the third quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 13,771 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 2.8% in the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 5,829 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,581,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nadler Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,177 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $300.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $307.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $286.43. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The firm has a market cap of $211.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.47, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share 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 predict that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. 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.