Petros Family Wealth LLC Makes New $461,000 Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Petros Family Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,553 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,266 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth about $1,296,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in American Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 8,031 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,178,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,423 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 430.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $251.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a twelve month low of $216.12 and a twelve month high of $326.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $279.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.26.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. 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 (DPR) is presently 23.41%.

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.