Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Sells 202 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. decreased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,519 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 202 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Auxier Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Abel Hall LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.6% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Compass Point dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Down 2.3 %

American Express stock opened at $255.38 on Wednesday. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $303.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.29. The company has a market capitalization of $179.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23, 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 (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were 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 $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.