Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,389 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,734 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $604,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of American Express by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 156,120 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $23,292,000 after acquiring an additional 5,304 shares in the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 6,262 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $934,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV increased its stake in shares of American Express by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 14,337 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,139,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 210,920 shares of company stock valued at $45,804,652 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.52.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded down $1.46 on Friday, reaching $235.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,993,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,154,841. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.45. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend 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.