Prudent Investors Network Inc. Takes $229,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Prudent Investors Network Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 773 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after acquiring an additional 906,353 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after acquiring an additional 681,304 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 35,213.7% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after buying an additional 316,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in 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. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $317.12 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $304.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $277.73. The stock has a market cap of $223.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 1 year low of $199.88 and a 1 year high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Company 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.