Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $215,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 724 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $358,000. Avion Wealth increased its stake in shares of American Express by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 830 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its position in American Express by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,911 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $270,000. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its position in American Express by 45.4% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 16,364 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,857,000 after buying an additional 5,111 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. HSBC increased their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $306.46 on Thursday. American Express has a 1 year low of $207.61 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The stock has a market cap of $215.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $306.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.25.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.