Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,296 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in American Express by 36,719.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $300,289,000 after buying an additional 1,009,042 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $292,081,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after buying an additional 866,110 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 35,213.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after buying an additional 316,219 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in American Express by 73.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $191,842,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on AXP shares. HSBC increased their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Trading Down 0.9 %

AXP stock opened at $273.13 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $191.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $305.44 and a 200-day moving average of $288.17.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.