Highland Capital Management LLC Has $9.19 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Highland Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,967 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 6,457 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $9,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Compass Point dropped their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $294.95.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded up $3.59 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $318.84. 2,512,287 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,723,320. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The business's 50-day moving average price is $304.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $276.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12 month low of $199.88 and a 12 month high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. American Express's payout ratio is 19.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by 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.