Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. Takes $117,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 792 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 239.0% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 200 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Karp Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Heritage Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mach 1 Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 83.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 15,217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.18, for a total transaction of $2,635,280.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,374,644.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Denise Pickett sold 28,688 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $5,186,216.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,557 shares in the company, valued at $2,270,054.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 15,217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.18, for a total transaction of $2,635,280.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,374,644.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,361 shares of company stock valued at $8,773,678 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Stephens downgraded shares of American Express from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $134.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of American Express from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $132.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of American Express from $180.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.44.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock traded down $4.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $156.52. 7,447,152 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,685,349. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.29. American Express has a 52-week low of $130.65 and a 52-week high of $194.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.20.

American Express (NYSE:AXP – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 27th. The payment services company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($0.11). American Express had a return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 14.16%. The business had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 11.25 EPS for the current year.

American Express announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, March 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase 120,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the payment services company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 5th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.14%.

About American Express

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American Express Co engages in the provision of charge and credit card products and travel-related services. It operates through the following segments: U.S Consumer Services (USCS), Commercial Services (CS), International Card Services (ICS), Global Merchant and Network Services (GMNS), and Corporate and Other.