Hager Investment Management Services LLC Takes Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,805 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $832,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AXP. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $296.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value 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 $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company'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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

American Express Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of American Express stock traded up $4.43 on Wednesday, reaching $320.26. 2,064,898 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,597,131. American Express has a 52 week low of $204.00 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The firm's 50-day moving average is $305.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $225.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.