Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 1,770 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 311,029 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 1,770 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $84,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in American Express by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 317 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. First International Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of American Express by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. First International Bank & Trust now owns 3,888 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,154,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 668 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. InvesTrust bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $1,249,000. Finally, Sterneck Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterneck Capital Management LLC now owns 1,257 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value 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 represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 2.9 %

AXP opened at $294.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a one year low of $177.81 and a one year high of $307.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $296.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $269.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial began coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.64.

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.