American Express (NYSE:AXP) Holdings Increased by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,359 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 7,849 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,119,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 120.9% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,516 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth approximately $221,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.5% in the third quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 6,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of American Express by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 48,536 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $13,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,999 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $294.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $206.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $307.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $285.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% 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.