1,111 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Bought by Delta Financial Advisors LLC

Delta Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,111 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new position in American Express during the second quarter worth about $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank cut shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. 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 report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.62.

American Express Price Performance

AXP traded up $2.48 during trading on Thursday, reaching $220.15. 1,215,909 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,038,927. The company’s 50-day moving average is $219.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.58. The company has a market cap of $159.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $231.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. American Express’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.98%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express 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.