Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,627 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in American Express by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,979 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,469,000 after acquiring an additional 2,894 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 40,554 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $9,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,754 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.9% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 222,597 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $51,542,000 after purchasing an additional 14,347 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth $105,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in American Express by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $881,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AXP. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Compass Point boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $312.75 on Tuesday. American Express has a 1 year low of $177.81 and a 1 year high of $315.40. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $299.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.