Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,554 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 174 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,104,735,000 after acquiring an additional 86,100 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in American Express by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in American Express by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,600,277,000 after acquiring an additional 95,927 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in American Express by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,249,415,000 after acquiring an additional 239,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,074,168,000 after buying an additional 33,193 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Trading Up 0.3 %

AXP stock opened at $284.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $199.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day moving average is $306.57 and its 200 day moving average is $287.59. American Express has a 12-month low of $214.51 and a 12-month high of $326.27. 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 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 return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,308,795. The trade was 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.

About American Express

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.