Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC Buys New Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,368 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AXP. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its position in American Express by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.6 %

AXP stock opened at $237.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $170.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. HSBC lifted their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.