Aprio Wealth Management LLC Has $329,000 Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,108 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after purchasing an additional 906,353 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $2,984,208,000 after buying an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in American Express by 924.2% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after buying an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after buying an additional 681,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of American Express by 71.9% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $269,547,000 after acquiring an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $277.82.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Up 1.4 %

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

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.