Whipplewood Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 196 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,104,735,000 after purchasing an additional 86,100 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 5.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,249,415,000 after purchasing an additional 239,173 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in American Express by 0.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,074,168,000 after purchasing an additional 33,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 12.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 247,864 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Trading Up 2.2 %

American Express stock opened at $300.77 on Friday. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The firm has a market cap of $211.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $307.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $286.43.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

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.