Haverford Trust Co Purchases 572 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Haverford Trust Co raised its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,119 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,049 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,027,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $352,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in American Express by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 3,003 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $815,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 408,679 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $110,834,000 after acquiring an additional 5,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 32.6% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,620 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $277.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $195.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $297.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.99. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $214.51 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Compass Point cut their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.57.

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.