HB Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 57,774 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $17,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last quarter. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Price Performance

AXP traded up $1.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $312.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,180,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,022,091. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a twelve month low of $177.81 and a twelve month high of $315.40. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.09.

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.