DecisionPoint Financial LLC Acquires 550 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

DecisionPoint Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 200.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 825 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. DecisionPoint Financial LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new position in American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Trading Down 0.0 %

American Express stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $218.26. 1,283,213 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,050,213. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $219.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.37. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $231.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.99 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.98%.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $212.00 to $222.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $201.62.

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.