North Star Asset Management Inc. Purchases New Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

North Star Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,236 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 4,894 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $917,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,786 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,349,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. DZ Bank cut American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $208.24.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $232.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $189.56. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $235.37.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.39%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

About American Express

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.