Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC Has $1.57 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,296 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 180 shares during the quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of AXP opened at $273.13 on Monday. American Express has a 1-year low of $214.51 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $305.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $288.17.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXP. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

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.