Ballast Advisors LLC Has $535,000 Stock Holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Ballast Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 17.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,990 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 427 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $311.05.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $311.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $329.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $304.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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 is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

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.