Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC Invests $890,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $890,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Express by 430.6% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after buying an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 9.8% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,626,000 after buying an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after acquiring an additional 247,864 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 in the last three months. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.2 %

American Express stock opened at $309.61 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $218.11 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 12-month low of $207.61 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $306.45 and its 200 day moving average is $280.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. UBS Group boosted their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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 target price of $296.38.

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.