Antonelli Financial Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 835 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Antonelli Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 835 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ballast Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 2,417 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $717,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co. raised its holdings in American Express by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 7,750 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,300,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in American Express by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $742,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. BluePointe Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $245,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in American Express by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 328,870 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $97,605,000 after buying an additional 54,348 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $270.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $214.51 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The business’s 50 day moving average is $298.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.23. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. 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. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W upgraded shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $303.52.

American Express 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.