Evoke Wealth LLC Has $2.86 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Evoke Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,619 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. UBS Group upped their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $264.36 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $300.85 and its 200 day moving average is $288.45. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

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.