Waddell & Associates LLC Acquires 400 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Waddell & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,436 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Waddell & Associates LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup cut their target price on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.24.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $230.98 on Wednesday. American Express has a 12-month low of $214.51 and a 12-month high of $326.28. 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 company has a market cap of $162.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $283.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.71.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

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.