American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by West Michigan Advisors LLC

West Michigan Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 988 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $300.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $211.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $307.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $286.76. American Express has a 52-week low of $214.51 and a 52-week high of $326.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. Compass Point decreased their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

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.