FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC Has $2.93 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,886 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 277 shares during the period. American Express comprises about 1.6% of FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,934,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased 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 buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last three months. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $312.75 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $299.26 and a 200-day moving average of $271.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 12 month low of $177.81 and a 12 month high of $315.40.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors 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 yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.09.

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.