Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Has $182,000 Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 22.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 612 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Selway Asset Management increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Selway Asset Management now owns 18,272 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,423,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Spahn Wealth & Retirement LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $445,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Express by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,699 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,033,000 after buying an additional 1,697 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of American Express by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 6,057 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,797,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXP. Citigroup dropped their price target on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Compass Point lowered their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.24.

American Express Stock Down 5.8 %

NYSE AXP opened at $233.50 on Friday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $214.51 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $288.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.