Gateway Wealth Partners LLC Buys New Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Gateway Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,097 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 3,625 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $597,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 3,850 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Bensler LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 30,585 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $9,077,000 after buying an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in American Express by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $17,269,000 after buying an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $315.14 on Thursday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $199.88 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $303.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $276.27. 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 stock has a market cap of $222.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $294.95.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express 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 completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About American Express

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.