Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. Acquires New Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,141 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $776,000. American Express comprises approximately 0.7% of Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $533,018,000 after acquiring an additional 67,575 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,045 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $268,549,000 after acquiring an additional 102,977 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,663 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $294,856,000 after acquiring an additional 102,132 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,480,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $220,825,000 after acquiring an additional 21,876 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.52.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $235.64. The company had a trading volume of 2,993,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,154,841. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $240.55. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. 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 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. American Express’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid 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 is currently 23.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 210,920 shares of company stock valued at $45,804,652. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.