Abacus Planning Group Inc. Has $382,000 Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 12.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,197 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at $37,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, PFS Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 104.0% in the first quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 153 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $327.00 target price (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total transaction of $5,011,520.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,653,764.83. This represents a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total transaction of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,614,306.60. This trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.6%

AXP opened at $330.60 on Friday. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $349.19. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $319.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $297.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.29.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

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

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.