SRN Advisors LLC Has $1.49 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

SRN Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,536 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 108 shares during the quarter. SRN Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $909,575,000 after buying an additional 496,153 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $713,202,000 after buying an additional 667,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,940,000 after buying an additional 195,876 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Bank of America raised their price target on American Express from $247.00 to $263.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen raised their price target on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on American Express in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Compass Point began coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Three 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.70.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock traded down $16.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $232.28. 6,902,632 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,841,174. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $256.24. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $236.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.15.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.