American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Avestar Capital LLC

Avestar Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,334 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Auxier Asset Management lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.6% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $306.46 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $306.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.42. American Express has a twelve month low of $207.61 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $215.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

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.