Sovran Advisors LLC Takes Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,160 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $996,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Auxier Asset Management boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the third 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 during the period. Abel Hall LLC raised its stake in American Express by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its stake in American Express by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research lifted their target price on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point cut their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $306.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. American Express has a 52 week low of $207.61 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $306.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.25. The company has a market capitalization of $215.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is owned by 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.