American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Apollon Wealth Management LLC

Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 24.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,064 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,161 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $2,467,210,000 after acquiring an additional 906,353 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 35,213.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after buying an additional 316,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in American Express by 73.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $191,842,000 after buying an additional 300,138 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point lowered their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following 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 sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $316.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $223.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 1-year low of $207.61 and a 1-year high of $326.27. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $306.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $279.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its 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 net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 19.99%.

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.