1900 Wealth Management LLC Takes $218,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

1900 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,166 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Place Capital Corp increased its holdings in American Express by 382.6% in the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 333 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in American Express by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,140 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 92.7% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,880 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after acquiring an additional 3,791 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 44,386 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,622,000 after acquiring an additional 2,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in American Express by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 225,355 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $33,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays restated 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $208.24.

Insider Activity

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

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $238.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $171.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $239.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $221.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.19.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.