MFA Wealth Services Makes New $868,000 Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

MFA Wealth Services purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 2,925 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $868,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after buying an additional 906,353 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in American Express by 59,816.0% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 35,213.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $86,002,000 after purchasing an additional 316,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of American Express by 73.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $191,842,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $325.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $229.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52-week low of $185.73 and a 52-week high of $326.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $300.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $273.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. Research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

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.