Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 779 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $12,334,299,000 after acquiring an additional 605,900 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of American Express by 13.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,849,777,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,445 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth $1,454,667,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,093,807 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,370,489,000 after acquiring an additional 78,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 25.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,278,711,000 after acquiring an additional 965,221 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE AXP opened at $328.76 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $319.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $297.32. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $349.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $228.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $327.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This trade represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at $40,343,574.81. The trade was a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.