Modern Wealth Management LLC Acquires 880 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 21.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,924 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 36,719.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $300,289,000 after buying an additional 1,009,042 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $292,081,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express by 35,213.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $86,002,000 after purchasing an additional 316,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 73.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $191,842,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Baird R W upgraded American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.57.

American Express Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $279.23 on Wednesday. American Express has a 1 year low of $214.51 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The company has a market capitalization of $196.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $297.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted 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 net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by 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.