Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Acquires 212 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,199 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 6,776 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in American Express by 2.8% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 148,832 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $40,363,000 after purchasing an additional 4,070 shares in the last quarter. Auxier Asset Management lifted its position in American Express by 0.5% during the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 534,851 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $145,052,000 after buying an additional 63,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in shares of American Express by 493.9% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 7,382 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,002,000 after buying an additional 6,139 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE AXP opened at $265.16 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $295.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $289.13. 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 has a market cap of $186.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.57.

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.