Firestone Capital Management Purchases Shares of 1,215 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Firestone Capital Management purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,215 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in American Express by 9.2% during the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,415 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $808,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in shares of American Express by 8.7% in the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,927 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of American Express by 148.1% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 40,808 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,106,000 after acquiring an additional 24,360 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 5.0% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 249,609 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $37,239,000 after acquiring an additional 11,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders increased its position in shares of American Express by 142.7% in the third quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 4,904 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 2,883 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Stephens upgraded shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.52.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP traded down $4.89 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $234.03. 3,543,221 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,205,785. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $240.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $223.10 and a 200 day moving average of $192.64.

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

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 203,891 shares of company stock worth $44,373,196. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Company 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.