Florida Financial Advisors LLC Has $367,000 Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Florida Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 24.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,235 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Florida Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 36,719.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $300,289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,042 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $292,081,000. FMR LLC increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 35,213.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $86,002,000 after purchasing an additional 316,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position 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. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $279.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $196.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $297.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.24. 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 has a 12-month low of $214.51 and a 12-month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 predict that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Argus lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.