Second Half Financial Partners LLC Has $279,000 Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Second Half Financial Partners LLC reduced its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 941 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 56 shares during the period. Second Half Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $279,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.05.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $264.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $326.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $267.65 and a 200-day moving average of $287.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

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.