WealthTrust Axiom LLC Grows Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC raised its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 79.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,035 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,236 shares during the period. WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,415 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $808,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners grew its stake in shares of American Express by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,927 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of American Express by 148.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 40,808 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,106,000 after buying an additional 24,360 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 249,609 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $37,239,000 after buying an additional 11,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders grew its stake in shares of American Express by 142.7% in the 3rd quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 4,904 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 2,883 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were 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 directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. DZ Bank cut shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.52.

American Express Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $4.78 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $234.14. 2,110,429 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,186,619. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of $168.42 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $223.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.64. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released 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 $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

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.