American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC grew its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,823 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 105.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 19,400 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in American Express by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 114,408 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $31,027,000 after acquiring an additional 6,122 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in American Express by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,074 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,918,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Herbst Group LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 5.7% in the third quarter. Herbst Group LLC now owns 14,041 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the third quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 8,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,170,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $316.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $222.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. 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 fifty-two week low of $203.42 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $304.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $277.73.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 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%. Analysts predict that American Express will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express 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.