Pure Financial Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 29.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,676 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 616 shares during the quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $311.75 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $287.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $288.94. The company has a market capitalization of $218.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Baird R W raised American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.05.

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.