World Investment Advisors LLC Buys 316,219 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 35,213.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 316,219 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $86,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,769,000. Zega Financial LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $238,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 73.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $191,842,000 after buying an additional 300,138 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,907,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of American Express by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 615,554 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $166,959,000 after acquiring an additional 51,615 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $304.03 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $282.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $257.08. American Express has a 12 month low of $167.57 and a 12 month high of $307.82. The company has a market cap of $214.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.