Seven Mile Advisory Buys 359 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Seven Mile Advisory grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,243 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the quarter. Seven Mile Advisory’s holdings in American Express were worth $666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 430.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in American Express by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $103,858,000 after purchasing an additional 12,364 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its holdings in American Express by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC increased its position in American Express by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $265.16 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $295.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. American Express has a 1 year low of $214.51 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. BTIG Research lifted their target price on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.57.

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.