American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Holdings Boosted by Capital Wealth Planning LLC

Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,517,668 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 273,813 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises 4.2% of Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Capital Wealth Planning LLC owned about 0.22% of American Express worth $450,429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 36,719.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $300,289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,042 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% during 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. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 316,219 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 300,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $655,137,000 after acquiring an additional 247,864 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. Compass Point reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Up 2.2 %

AXP stock opened at $300.77 on Friday. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The company has a market cap of $211.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $307.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $286.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, 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 owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company 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.