Dempze Nancy E Boosts Stock Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Dempze Nancy E boosted its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 210.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,459 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,344 shares during the period. Dempze Nancy E’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,073 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 80.1% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 9,545 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,582,000 after acquiring an additional 4,244 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,039 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,136 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $787,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AXP. 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 note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $323.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. This trade represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. This represents a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 1.3%

American Express stock opened at $323.86 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $321.23 and its 200-day moving average is $299.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $349.19. The company has a market cap of $225.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.73, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted 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. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 presently 23.02%.

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.