Secure Asset Management LLC Purchases New Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Secure Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,007 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 430.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 3,867 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 9.8% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its holdings in American Express by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its stake in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% during the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded down $5.00 on Friday, reaching $320.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,256,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,894,205. American Express has a 12-month low of $186.43 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $302.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $274.66.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $281.00.

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.