1,253 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Purchased by Kowal Investment Group LLC

Kowal Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,253 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its stake in American Express by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total transaction of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 110,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total value of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,932 shares in the company, 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, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total transaction of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 110,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,642,315.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXP. HSBC upped their target price on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $220.30.

American Express Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AXP opened at $233.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.40. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $244.41. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $168.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted 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 net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.