Round Rock Advisors LLC Has $649,000 Holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Round Rock Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 43.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,414 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in American Express by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in American Express by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. GHE LLC increased its position in American Express by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,052,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in American Express by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,409 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,485 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,564,000 after purchasing an additional 3,923 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AXP. BTIG Research cut their price target on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Baird R W upgraded American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Argus cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $301.37.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $318.13 on Thursday. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $290.38. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $329.14. The stock has a market cap of $222.88 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

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.