Marcum Wealth LLC Raises Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,060 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd 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. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of 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.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of AXP opened at $297.33 on Tuesday. American Express has a twelve month low of $177.81 and a twelve month high of $307.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.12.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $277.82.

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.