Wealthstar Advisors LLC Acquires 72 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Wealthstar Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,398 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Wealthstar Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $12,334,299,000 after buying an additional 605,900 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of American Express by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,849,777,000 after buying an additional 2,168,445 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $1,454,667,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,093,807 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,370,489,000 after buying an additional 78,538 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,278,711,000 after buying an additional 965,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. DZ Bank cut American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% 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 Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,653,764.83. This trade represents a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:AXP opened at $324.09 on Friday. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $349.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $225.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $321.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $299.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.02%.

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.