American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Holdings Lifted by Evergreen Wealth Solutions LLC

Evergreen Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,751 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Evergreen Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic raised American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, HSBC upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $295.05.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $267.02 on Wednesday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $266.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.11. 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 company has a market cap of $187.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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