World Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 316,219 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 35,213.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 316,219 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $86,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Auxier Asset Management increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in American Express by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 2.5% during the third quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its stake in American Express by 10.5% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sawgrass Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,404,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Four investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $304.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 12-month low of $167.57 and a 12-month high of $307.82. The company has a market capitalization of $214.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $282.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $257.08.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Company 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.