Syon Capital LLC Has $1.03 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Syon Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,515 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the quarter. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock traded down $2.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $237.10. 3,327,301 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,198,066. The company has a market cap of $170.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.63 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $221.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.53.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that American Express will post 12.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 210,920 shares of company stock worth $45,804,652 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.52.

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.