Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 1,697 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,699 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,697 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 430.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in shares of American Express by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $103,858,000 after purchasing an additional 12,364 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its holdings in American Express by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC raised its position in American Express by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.57.

American Express Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $275.64 on Thursday. American Express has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $193.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $292.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $289.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.