Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Invests $220,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 1,172 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA raised its stake in American Express by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 210,920 shares of company stock worth $45,804,652. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $235.60 on Friday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $240.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.45.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut shares of 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.52.

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.