American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,163 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,062 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $5,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AXP. Strategic Advisors LLC grew its position in American Express by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,356 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,590,000 after buying an additional 1,702 shares during the last quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $200,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Monument Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,050 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 13,230 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $3,927,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of AXP stock traded down $5.84 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $304.08. The company had a trading volume of 2,829,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,457,491. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $307.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $283.65. American Express has a twelve month low of $209.10 and a twelve month high of $326.27. 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 company has a market capitalization 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 (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point reduced their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is currently 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.