Ellenbecker Investment Group Invests $262,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Ellenbecker Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 883 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 430.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. XML Financial LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 9.8% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its position in American Express by 3.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,557 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its stake in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the period. 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 worth $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $297.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $209.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $307.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $297.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $270.12.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $277.82.

About American Express

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.