Advisor Resource Council Acquires New Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,167 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $721,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in American Express by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $909,575,000 after acquiring an additional 496,153 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $713,202,000 after acquiring an additional 667,695 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in American Express by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,399,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $449,521,000 after acquiring an additional 919,337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in American Express by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 2,067,858 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $387,392,000 after acquiring an additional 142,763 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total transaction of $829,500.56. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,602,896.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total value of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,602,896.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 177,717 shares of company stock valued at $41,680,999 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $220.30.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock traded down $0.26 on Thursday, reaching $235.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,365,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,733,787. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $234.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $217.18. The company has a market capitalization of $169.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $244.41.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. Analysts expect that American Express will post 12.98 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. American Express’s payout ratio 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.