Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC Takes $203,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,086 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 3,783 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $707,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 27,029 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,054,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in American Express by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,421 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in American Express by 207.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 946 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the period. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $397,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Trading Up 4.5 %

Shares of AXP traded up $9.74 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $227.24. 2,550,021 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,065,165. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $219.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.79. The company has a market capitalization of $164.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $231.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AXP. Stephens raised shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 price objective (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.62.

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.