American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by Jacobs & Co. CA

Jacobs & Co. CA increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,808 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,944 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings in American Express were worth $7,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. S.A. Mason LLC increased its stake in American Express by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 5,146 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $964,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in American Express by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 35,478 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,646,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 increased its position in shares of American Express by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 2,277 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,222 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,290,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Finally, Sandy Cove Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $248,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Up 1.5 %

AXP stock opened at $227.79 on Thursday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $231.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market cap of $164.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $210.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.31.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. DZ Bank cut shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Stephens upgraded American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $208.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $222.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $189.00.

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.