Arkadios Wealth Advisors Grows Stock Position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Key Points

• Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in American Express by 82.6%, bringing its holdings to $3.09 million after purchasing an additional 5,188 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts' price targets for American Express vary, with recent upgrades from Morgan Stanley to $311 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raising it to $371, while the average price target stands at $311.05.
• American Express reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $4.08, exceeding analysts' estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 with a 1.08% dividend yield.

Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 82.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,467 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,188 shares during the quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors' holdings in American Express were worth $3,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $183,037,000 after acquiring an additional 35,295 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $45,243,000 after buying an additional 2,259 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,088,000 after buying an additional 5,693 shares during the last quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 368.7% during the 1st quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 2,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 95,443 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,679,000 after buying an additional 7,822 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,950 shares of company stock valued at $19,787,710 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of AXP stock traded down $5.06 on Friday, hitting $294.25. The company had a trading volume of 3,012,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,476,523. The firm has a market cap of $204.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's 50-day moving average is $306.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $329.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on American Express and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price objective on American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $311.05.

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.