West Oak Capital LLC Has $2.41 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

West Oak Capital LLC grew its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,217 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 123 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for about 1.1% of West Oak Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new stake in American Express in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its stake in shares of American Express by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction 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 can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on American Express from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. 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 report on Monday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.84.

American Express Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of American Express stock traded down $0.76 during trading on Thursday, reaching $226.99. 497,118 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,129,542. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $231.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $210.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 EPS 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 in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

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.