Byrne Asset Management LLC Acquires 210 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,669 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $218.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $218.88 and its 200-day moving average is $186.14. The stock has a market cap of $157.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $231.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.62.

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.