SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Has $418,000 Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 29.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,232 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 193,261 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $36,206,000 after purchasing an additional 30,576 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 752,313 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $140,937,000 after acquiring an additional 91,685 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 782.7% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,662 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,435,000 after purchasing an additional 6,794 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 265,902 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $49,814,000 after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 8,535 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,599,000 after buying an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.71.

American Express Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $1.86 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $230.64. 3,203,104 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,211,802. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The company has a market capitalization of $165.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. 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 firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.06%.

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.