Realta Investment Advisors Has $1.12 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Realta Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,705 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Realta Investment Advisors’ holdings in American Express were worth $1,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the third 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. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AXP. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HSBC boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $320.18 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $306.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $279.30. American Express has a twelve month low of $205.60 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (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%. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 19.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.