Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Acquires 242 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,005 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 30.6% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,049 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,027,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 3,003 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 7.9% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,318 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in American Express by 3.9% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,824 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,308,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in American Express by 17.8% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 6,652 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $279.23 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $297.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.24. The firm has a market cap of $196.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

American Express Company 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.