675 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Bought by Elmwood Wealth Management Inc.

Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 675 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Auxier Asset Management lifted its position in American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC raised its position in American Express by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in American Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of American Express by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group boosted their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $277.82.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded up $4.01 during trading on Monday, reaching $297.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,204,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,078,922. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $296.88 and a 200 day moving average of $269.64. American Express has a one year low of $177.81 and a one year high of $307.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. Analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

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.