Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Buys 883 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 37,288 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $982,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,584 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its holdings in American Express by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 4,894 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Express by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,786 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 8th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.52.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP traded down $2.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $236.87. 972,630 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,173,426. The company has a market cap of $170.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $240.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $223.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by 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.