Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 19.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 879 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in American Express by 13.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,849,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,445 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 25.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,278,711,000 after purchasing an additional 965,221 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $12,334,299,000 after purchasing an additional 605,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $126,119,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the sale, the insider owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at $40,343,574.81. The trade was a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 value of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $316.27 on Friday. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $349.19. The company has a market cap of $220.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $322.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $300.17.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on American Express from $297.00 to $336.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $323.60.

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.