Pacer Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 44,162 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,510 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $13,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $835,000. Apexium Financial LP raised its stake in American Express by 113.8% in the fourth quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 2,268 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,438 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,831,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541 shares during the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,495 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $317.24 on Wednesday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $199.07 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $302.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $275.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $223.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued 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 return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. As a group, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate 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.