FLC Capital Advisors Makes New $216,000 Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

FLC Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,155 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its position in shares of American Express by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE AXP traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $227.69. 2,273,603 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,159,487. The company’s 50-day moving average is $211.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.65. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $231.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $164.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Stephens raised shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $208.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $235.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.84.

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.