Waddell & Associates LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Waddell & Associates LLC raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,436 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Waddell & Associates LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 5.2% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 81,343 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $22,060,000 after acquiring an additional 4,042 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 13.3% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 671 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 41.0% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,853 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $823,000 after acquiring an additional 829 shares during the period. Executive Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth $205,000. Finally, Conway Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $244,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research upped their target price on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $343.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’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 transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $230.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $283.91 and a 200-day moving average of $288.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market cap of $162.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. American Express has a one year low of $214.51 and a one year high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 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.