Townsend & Associates Inc Boosts Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Townsend & Associates Inc grew its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,028 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its position in shares of American Express by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total transaction of $729,842.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,948.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,948.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 19,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,602,896.76. 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. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.71.

American Express Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:AXP traded up $1.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $237.92. The stock had a trading volume of 1,210,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,157,722. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $240.55. The company has a market capitalization of $171.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $225.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

About American Express

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.