Zhang Financial LLC Acquires 336 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Zhang Financial LLC boosted its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,379 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the quarter. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,786 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 2,693.5% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 37,852 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,091,000 after acquiring an additional 36,497 shares during the period. HTLF Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,153,000. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in American Express by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,891 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 target price (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Robert W. Baird cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $201.62.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $231.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $167.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $220.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $231.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express’s payout ratio is 24.98%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.