Golden State Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 3,923 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,923 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,164,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AXP opened at $320.18 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $305.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $279.01. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $225.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 12-month low of $205.60 and a 12-month high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.87%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. UBS Group upped 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. Evercore ISI upped their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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 given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 in the last ninety days. Corporate 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.