American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by American Trust

American Trust increased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,119 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total transaction of $3,578,087.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,957,361.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total value of $3,578,087.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,957,361.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total transaction of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,948.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $16.40 on Friday, hitting $232.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,902,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,841,174. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $256.24. The company has a market capitalization of $165.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.21. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $236.90 and a 200-day moving average of $226.15.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.24 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.70.

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.