American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,883 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 705 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Auxier Asset Management grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 3.6% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its holdings in American Express by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in American Express by 2.7% in the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, 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 own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.9 %

AXP opened at $325.12 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $300.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.70. American Express has a 12 month low of $185.73 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Truist Financial began coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

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.