Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Has $640,000 Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,156 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 439 shares during the quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its position in American Express by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $996,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Auxier Asset Management raised its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abel Hall LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.57.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $275.99 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $193.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $296.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $289.15. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

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.