Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,086 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 118,198.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,732,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,028,913,000 after acquiring an additional 13,720,460 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,503,902 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,847,452,000 after acquiring an additional 35,760 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after acquiring an additional 41,443 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $911,554,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,802,341 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $857,293,000 after acquiring an additional 405,975 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. UBS Group lifted their price target on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC lifted their price target on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $201.62.

American Express Stock Up 4.5 %

American Express stock traded up $9.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $227.24. 2,550,021 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,065,165. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $219.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.79. The company has a market cap of $164.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $231.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.01 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

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.