MFA Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,473 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,914 shares during the period. American Express comprises about 2.2% of MFA Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,104,735,000 after acquiring an additional 86,100 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in American Express by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,249,415,000 after purchasing an additional 239,173 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,074,168,000 after purchasing an additional 33,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $655,137,000 after buying an additional 247,864 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $316.72 on Monday. 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 has a 52 week low of $207.61 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $306.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $280.03. The company has a market capitalization of $223.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

American Express Company 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.