Advisory Services Network LLC Has $6.21 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 11.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,281 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 2,748 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in American Express by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $909,575,000 after buying an additional 496,153 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in American Express by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $713,202,000 after buying an additional 667,695 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in American Express by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,399,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $449,521,000 after buying an additional 919,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. increased its holdings in American Express by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 2,067,858 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $387,392,000 after buying an additional 142,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total transaction of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,948.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total value of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,948.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 177,717 shares of company stock valued at $41,680,999. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on American Express in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC upped their target price on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BTIG Research began coverage on American Express in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $225.50.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock traded up $0.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $239.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 566,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,984,176. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $234.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $219.28. 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 one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $244.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.21.

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 firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

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.