Purus Wealth Management LLC Sells 83 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Purus Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,972 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 83 shares during the period. Purus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 430.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 9.8% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its position in shares of American Express by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its stake in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in American Express by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $312.75 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $315.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $299.26 and a 200 day moving average of $271.98.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the 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 owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Compass Point boosted their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

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.