3,000 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Acquired by Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC

Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $890,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AXP. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $309.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1 year low of $207.61 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The company’s 50-day moving average is $306.45 and its 200 day moving average is $280.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

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.