Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,342 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its position in shares of American Express by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded down $1.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $230.77. 3,203,304 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,577,762. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.99 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $240.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $224.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.30.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

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.