American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Holdings Boosted by TrinityPoint Wealth LLC

TrinityPoint Wealth LLC boosted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,961 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 154 shares during the quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of American Express by 463.3% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,293,259,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in American Express by 186.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $886,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,463 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in American Express by 346.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $600,072,000 after buying an additional 1,568,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 36,719.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $300,289,000 after buying an additional 1,009,042 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Argus downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Redburn Atlantic raised American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $295.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $299.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $209.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $326.28. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $288.12.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date 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 is presently 22.91%.

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.