White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.14 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 101.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,834 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 1,929 shares during the quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AXP. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Baird R W upgraded American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on 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, Argus downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.05.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $299.10 on Tuesday. American Express has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $288.43. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $209.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

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.