American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,081 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,125 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $3,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $281.00.

American Express Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $5.00 during trading on Friday, reaching $320.87. The stock had a trading volume of 6,256,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,894,205. The business's 50-day moving average price is $302.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $274.66. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $186.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The company has a market cap of $226.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express's payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express 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.