Level Four Advisory Services LLC Has $2.31 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,776 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AXP. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in American Express by 332.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $265.16 on Friday. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $295.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $289.43. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

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.