Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Invests $234,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,250 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA lifted its position in shares of American Express by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. HSBC lifted their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.71.

American Express Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of AXP stock traded up $1.90 on Friday, reaching $241.04. 1,073,821 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,156,505. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $226.07 and a 200-day moving average of $196.71. The company has a market cap of $173.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $243.54.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total value of $729,842.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 258 shares in the company, valued at $59,948.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total transaction of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,602,896.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 316,691 shares of company stock worth $70,856,898. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.