Tradition Wealth Management LLC Has $911,000 Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Tradition Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,071 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $251.48 on Monday. American Express has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $326.28. The company has a market capitalization of $176.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. 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. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $294.90.

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.