170,000 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Purchased by Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd

Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 170,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,454,000. American Express accounts for approximately 1.4% of Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its position in American Express by 376.9% during the 4th quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 16,793 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,984,000 after acquiring an additional 13,272 shares in the last quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc lifted its position in shares of American Express by 94.6% during the fourth quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 1,646 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its stake in shares of American Express by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 25,463 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $7,557,000 after acquiring an additional 4,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,448,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 1.1%

American Express stock opened at $302.28 on Wednesday. American Express has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $264.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $287.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $295.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now 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 company insiders.

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.