American Express (NYSE:AXP) Position Raised by Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 51,212 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 53 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $9,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its stake in American Express by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 4,894 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $917,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,786 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,349,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.7 %

AXP traded down $1.67 during trading on Thursday, reaching $237.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,284,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,171,987. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $221.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.53. The company has a market cap of $170.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $240.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. DZ Bank lowered American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.52.

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.