Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in American Express Company $AXP

Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 226 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $322.83 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $310.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.12. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $329.14. The company has a market cap of $224.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price objective on American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $311.05.

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.