Sapient Capital LLC Takes $510,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,723 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $232.16 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $166.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $240.55. The business’s 50 day moving average is $224.63 and its 200 day moving average is $194.88.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.71.

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.