Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. increased its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,427 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. American Express accounts for 2.1% of Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vicus Capital purchased a new stake in American Express during the first quarter valued at about $299,000. Private Ocean LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 20.0% during the first quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 3,953 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.1% during the first quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 51,160 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $11,649,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.8% during the first quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 14,299 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,256,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 10.7% during the first quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $221.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. HSBC boosted their price target on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.30.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock traded up $3.15 on Friday, reaching $231.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,901,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,820,091. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $244.41. The company has a market capitalization of $166.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $234.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that American Express will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total value of $3,578,087.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,957,361.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 177,717 shares of company stock valued at $41,680,999 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.