Bramshill Investments LLC Purchases Shares of 1,500 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bramshill Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,500 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $445,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $276.26. 2,329,189 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,828,533. American Express has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $326.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $263.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $286.82. The stock has a market cap of $193.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. This is a positive change from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research cut their target price on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. HSBC boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Argus downgraded American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $295.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.