TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Grows Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,611 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,386 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $32,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $251.48 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. American Express has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $326.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $272.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.84.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 22.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $343.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $294.90.

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.