Meridian Wealth Management LLC Makes New $954,000 Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 3,517 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $954,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% during the third 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. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $197,149,000 after acquiring an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 681,304 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew 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 worth $269,547,000 after purchasing an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at $96,943,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $301.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.23. American Express has a twelve month low of $163.32 and a twelve month high of $301.92.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. On average, analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on AXP shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other 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 value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.