Kennedy Investment Group Invests $214,000 in American Express Company $AXP

Kennedy Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 670 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $340.86 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $316.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.66. The company has a market capitalization of $237.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $349.19.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The company’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. Research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $315.20.

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.