OneAscent Wealth Management LLC Sells 68 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,428 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 68 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $265.16 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $295.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.13. 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 has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $186.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup dropped their target price on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % 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 company insiders.

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.