Guardian Investment Management Buys Shares of 4,617 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Guardian Investment Management bought a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,617 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $865,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,349,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 417.3% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $77,876,000 after buying an additional 335,338 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,460,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1,313.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,440,210,000 after buying an additional 714,370 shares during the period. Finally, GYL Financial Synergies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.0% in the third quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 23,987 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,579,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 target price (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $212.00 to $222.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $201.62.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded up $1.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $218.75. The company had a trading volume of 2,292,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,052,740. The firm has a market cap of $158.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $219.56 and a 200-day moving average of $187.58. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $231.69. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors 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 is presently 24.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.