American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by WP Advisors LLC

WP Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,403 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up 1.6% of WP Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. WP Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in American Express by 26,783.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after purchasing an additional 906,353 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in American Express by 59,816.0% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares during the last quarter. 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 during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in 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 worth $191,842,000 after acquiring an additional 300,138 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of AXP opened at $304.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $213.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a one year low of $209.10 and a one year high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $307.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $283.79.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Compass Point dropped their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

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.