AJOVista LLC Invests $196,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,048 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,037,387,000 after acquiring an additional 41,443 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd boosted its position in American Express by 1.9% during the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $533,018,000 after buying an additional 67,575 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in American Express by 6.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,045 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $268,549,000 after buying an additional 102,977 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in American Express by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,663 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $294,856,000 after buying an additional 102,132 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in American Express by 1.5% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,480,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $220,825,000 after buying an additional 21,876 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of AXP stock traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $230.77. 3,203,304 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,577,762. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $224.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.30. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $240.55. The stock has a market cap of $165.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company 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 is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’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 directly 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 is available through this hyperlink. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 203,891 shares of company stock worth $44,373,196 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AXP. HSBC upped their price target on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of American Express from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, 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, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.71.

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.