Millington Financial Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 2,727 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Millington Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,727 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $511,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its position in American Express by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 417.3% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $77,876,000 after acquiring an additional 335,338 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $2,460,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in American Express by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,806 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in American Express by 1,313.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,440,210,000 after purchasing an additional 714,370 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stephens raised American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $208.24.

American Express Price Performance

AXP traded up $5.88 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $238.88. 4,684,299 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,180,570. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $239.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $220.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.56.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released 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 company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.39% and a net margin of 14.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid 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 payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.