Fielder Capital Group LLC Makes New $1.06 Million Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Fielder Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,681 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,064,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 6.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,045 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $268,549,000 after purchasing an additional 102,977 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in American Express by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,663 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $294,856,000 after purchasing an additional 102,132 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,480,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $220,825,000 after purchasing an additional 21,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,540,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC raised their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $221.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.71.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was 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 directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s 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 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 321,200 shares of company stock valued at $71,640,500. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $234.66. The company had a trading volume of 2,084,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,188,169. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $224.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.79 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend 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.