1900 Wealth Management LLC Invests $218,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

1900 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,166 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in American Express by 0.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd increased its stake in American Express by 1.9% in the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $533,018,000 after purchasing an additional 67,575 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in American Express by 6.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,045 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $268,549,000 after acquiring an additional 102,977 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in American Express by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,663 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $294,856,000 after acquiring an additional 102,132 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in American Express by 1.5% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,480,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $220,825,000 after acquiring an additional 21,876 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $238.88 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $221.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $239.42.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AXP. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. DZ Bank downgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $208.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. 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 three months. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.