Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC Boosts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC grew its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,795 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC’s holdings in American Express were worth $830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Argus cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on American Express from $340.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $295.05.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $284.43 on Friday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $263.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $326.28.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.