May Hill Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 1,070 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,070 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $269.25 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $294.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $289.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12-month low of $214.51 and a 12-month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird upgraded 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.