Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC Has $4.38 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,397 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 69 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Townsend & Associates Inc lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 14,028 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,607,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its position in American Express by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,022,817 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $191,615,000 after purchasing an additional 20,518 shares in the last quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $97,000. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its position in American Express by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 6,206 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,163,000 after buying an additional 1,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total value of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,948.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total value of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,948.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 316,691 shares of company stock valued at $70,856,898. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on AXP shares. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on American Express from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.71.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP traded up $1.73 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $237.97. 1,303,331 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,159,070. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $225.31 and its 200-day moving average is $196.14. The firm has a market cap of $171.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results 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. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. American Express’s dividend 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.