WBI Investments LLC Has $1.95 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

WBI Investments LLC raised its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 52.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,566 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,256 shares during the quarter. WBI Investments LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $1,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus cut American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. BTIG Research dropped their price target on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup dropped their price target on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $295.05.

American Express Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of AXP stock traded down $10.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $285.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,444,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,851,849. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $268.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.46. American Express has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a market cap of $200.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 value of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.