American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by M3 Advisory Group LLC

M3 Advisory Group LLC increased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,605 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 101 shares during the quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $320.87 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $302.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $274.66. American Express has a 52 week low of $186.43 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $226.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. As a group, research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 20.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $281.00.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the 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 owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.