Whelan Financial Increases Stock Position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Whelan Financial raised its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 198.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,815 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 1,873 shares during the period. American Express comprises about 0.3% of Whelan Financial’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Whelan Financial’s holdings in American Express were worth $757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in shares of American Express by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. GHE LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,052,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,409 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $488,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $328.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $295.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.85. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $329.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. American Express’s payout ratio is 22.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. BTIG Research lowered their price target on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $295.25.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.