Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC Acquires 53 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $724,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. BTIG Research decreased 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 report on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” 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 decreased their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

American Express Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of American Express stock opened at $296.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $207.75 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $282.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.80.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 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.