Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 67 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 19,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 67 shares during the quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $832,000. Keybank National Association OH grew 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 worth $103,858,000 after acquiring an additional 12,364 shares in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,982 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,638,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 26,102 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $299.32 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $209.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $265.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.82. American Express has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $295.05.

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.