Values Added Financial LLC Buys Shares of 671 American Express Company $AXP

Values Added Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 671 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $323.86 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $321.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $299.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market cap of $225.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.29. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $349.19.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. This trade represents a 87.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. This represents a 15.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $323.55.

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.