Wealthstar Advisors LLC Invests $309,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Wealthstar Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,041 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. HSBC increased their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lifted their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $316.72 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $306.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.03. American Express has a 52-week low of $207.61 and a 52-week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders 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 0.88%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 19.99%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.