American Express (NYSE:AXP) Position Increased by Intellectus Partners LLC

Intellectus Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,396 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA raised its stake in shares of American Express by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC lifted their target price on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 210,920 shares of company stock worth $45,804,652 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE AXP traded down $1.46 on Friday, reaching $235.64. The stock had a trading volume of 2,993,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,154,841. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $240.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $222.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.74. The company has a market capitalization of $169.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

American Express 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.