American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,786 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s 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 owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Stephens upgraded American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $201.62.

American Express Stock Up 5.5 %

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $12.05 on Friday, hitting $229.55. The company had a trading volume of 4,765,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,094,246. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $231.69. The business has a 50 day moving average of $219.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.01 by $0.32. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.98%.

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.