Stegner Investment Associates Inc. Invests $207,000 in American Express Company $AXP

Stegner Investment Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 650 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000. American Express accounts for approximately 0.1% of Stegner Investment Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in American Express by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,849,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,445 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,278,711,000 after purchasing an additional 965,221 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after purchasing an additional 605,900 shares during the period. Finally, Provident Trust Co. bought a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $126,119,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 123,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,343,574.81. This represents a 15.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $330.75 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $349.19. The company has a market cap of $230.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $324.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $301.19.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The business had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.49 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. HSBC set a $295.00 price target on American Express and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $323.60.

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.