Atria Investments Inc Boosts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,085 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc's holdings in American Express were worth $14,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Trading Up 0.3 %

American Express stock traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $284.20. 2,569,080 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,557,637. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $306.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $287.59.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. This is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % 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 corporate insiders.

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.