Moser Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Moser Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 520 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were 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 a total of 316,691 shares of company stock valued at $70,856,898 over the last ninety days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXP. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.71.

American Express Trading Up 0.7 %

American Express stock traded up $1.56 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $237.80. 379,731 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,148,525. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.14. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $240.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

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.