Simplicity Wealth LLC Has $458,000 Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,543 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Taika Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $377,000. SLT Holdings LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $228,000. Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted its holdings in American Express by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 2,149 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $1,396,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $19,213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $261.27 on Tuesday. American Express has a one year low of $214.51 and a one year high of $326.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.65, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $304.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.26. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

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.