Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC Has $2.55 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,604 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

American Express Stock Up 1.8 %

AXP stock opened at $318.07 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $299.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.78. The company has a market cap of $224.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $184.06 and a fifty-two week high of $319.70.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

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.