Venturi Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 70.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,175 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 4,627 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $3,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after acquiring an additional 906,353 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 35,213.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $86,002,000 after buying an additional 316,219 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in American Express by 73.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $191,842,000 after buying an additional 300,138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Compass Point decreased their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Down 2.8 %

American Express stock traded down $8.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $295.23. The stock had a trading volume of 3,277,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,481,628. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $307.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $284.27. American Express has a 12 month low of $212.48 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market capitalization of $207.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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.