Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Purchases 68 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,378 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth $37,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, PFS Partners LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $319.95.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $330.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $229.71 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.29. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $349.19. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $320.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $298.43.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.49 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.82 dividend. 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 (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total transaction of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.