31,550 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Acquired by Miracle Mile Advisors LLC

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 31,550 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,364,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Compass Point upped their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $277.82.

American Express Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE AXP traded up $4.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $297.33. 2,113,278 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,220,416. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $307.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $296.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $269.64. The company has a market cap of $209.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.