Advisory Alpha LLC Acquires 543 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Advisory Alpha LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 51.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,607 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 430.6% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 9.8% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its stake in American Express by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,626,000 after buying an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% in the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after buying an additional 247,864 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $322.48 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1 year low of $184.81 and a 1 year high of $322.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $300.24 and a 200 day moving average of $273.36. The company has a market cap of $227.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.09.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.