Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. Purchases New Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 190 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point cut their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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 Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $310.13 on Tuesday. American Express has a 1 year low of $207.61 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $218.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $306.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $280.31.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.99%.

American Express 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.