RMR Wealth Builders Grows Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

RMR Wealth Builders increased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,666 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders’ holdings in American Express were worth $2,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 32.7% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 276,026 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $63,914,000 after purchasing an additional 68,033 shares during the period. Lumbard & Kellner LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 2nd quarter worth $201,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 138,359 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $32,037,000 after acquiring an additional 5,248 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth $200,000. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 43,014 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $9,960,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

American Express Stock Up 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $312.51 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $220.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $313.96. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $270.60.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

About American Express

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.