American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC

Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,933 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the period. American Express accounts for 6.2% of Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA lifted its stake 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 210,920 shares of company stock valued at $45,804,652 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.52.

American Express Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:AXP traded down $2.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $237.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,327,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,198,073. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $170.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $240.55. The business’s 50-day moving average is $222.11 and its 200-day moving average is $190.85.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.98 EPS for the current 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 $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

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.