American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by Argentarii LLC

Argentarii LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,786 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Trillium Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $727,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in American Express by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,510 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 2,967 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $880,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CFO4Life Group LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.25.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $328.36 on Friday. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $329.14. The firm has a market cap of $230.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $295.62 and a 200-day moving average of $289.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

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.