Fielder Capital Group LLC Acquires Shares of 5,681 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Fielder Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,681 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,064,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA raised its holdings in American Express by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 321,200 shares of company stock valued at $71,640,500 in the last three months. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $234.66. The stock had a trading volume of 2,084,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,188,169. The company has a 50 day moving average of $224.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $195.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market cap of $168.79 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. Research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.71.

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.