Capital Investment Advisors LLC Buys 3,224 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 109,865 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $32,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 430.6% during 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 in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its holdings in American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its holdings in American Express by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $25,626,000 after buying an additional 2,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in American Express by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $655,137,000 after buying an additional 247,864 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $277.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded up $4.03 on Monday, reaching $297.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,201,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,220,416. The firm has a market cap of $209.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $296.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $269.64. American Express has a 52 week low of $177.81 and a 52 week high of $307.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 20.60%.

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.