EdgeRock Capital LLC Purchases New Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 305 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA increased its holdings in American Express by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on 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 lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $221.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.71.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock traded up $1.43 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $236.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,501,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,180,452. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $225.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.14. 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 cap of $169.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total transaction of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,948.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 327,933 shares of company stock valued at $73,199,843 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.