Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,202 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. HSBC lifted their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.00.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value 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 approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $320.87 on Monday. American Express has a 1-year low of $186.43 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $302.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.92. The company has a market capitalization of $226.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.99%.

American Express 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.