Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $210,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 707 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $996,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Auxier Asset Management lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 1,716 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AXP. HSBC increased their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $310.13 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $306.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $280.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market capitalization of $218.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 12-month low of $207.61 and a 12-month high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

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.