Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 146 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 540.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $46,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in American Express by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $12,334,299,000 after purchasing an additional 605,900 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in American Express by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,025,632,000 after purchasing an additional 955,811 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,454,667,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in American Express by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,015,269 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,488,482,000 after purchasing an additional 408,283 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in American Express by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,278,711,000 after purchasing an additional 965,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 1.3%

AXP opened at $307.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $329.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $306.93 and its 200 day moving average is $290.48. The stock has a market cap of $213.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.28.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $327.00 target price (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $311.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,653,764.83. The trade was a 65.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.