Marcum Wealth LLC Buys 982 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,747 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 982 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 73,343 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $13,740,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $501,000. Vista Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Caxton Associates LP raised its position in American Express by 243.7% in the 4th quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 9,659 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 6,849 shares during the period. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 31,703 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,939,000 after buying an additional 6,160 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of AXP opened at $271.48 on Thursday. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $276.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $254.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $241.19. The company has a market capitalization of $195.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Compass Point started coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $239.96.

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.