Aspire Private Capital LLC Has $708,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Aspire Private Capital LLC grew its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,781 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA lifted its position in American Express by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.8 %

AXP stock traded up $1.84 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $232.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,150,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,161,080. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $235.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $220.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $188.95. The company has a market cap of $168.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.39%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.92 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $208.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.