Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. Buys 566 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,730 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 566 shares during the quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in American Express by 105.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 19,400 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 22,983 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,857 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in American Express by 330.7% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,522 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 3,472 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in American Express by 9.1% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,864 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the period. Finally, Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $217,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Compass Point reduced their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $316.72 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $306.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $280.03. The stock has a market cap of $223.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 52-week low of $207.61 and a 52-week high of $326.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

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.