Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $13.11 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 44,162 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,510 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $13,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd 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 period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Compass Point cut their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.50.

American Express Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $317.24 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $302.97 and its 200 day moving average is $275.72. American Express has a 12 month low of $199.07 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 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.