Twin Capital Management Inc. Invests $1.09 Million in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Twin Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 5,840 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,094,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $222.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $201.62.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of 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. Insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $217.51 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $219.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.79. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week 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 stock has a market cap of $157.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.32. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. American Express’s payout ratio is 24.98%.

About American Express

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.