Capital Advantage Inc. Takes $880,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Capital Advantage Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,965 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $880,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. Compass Point reduced their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Redburn Atlantic raised American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $295.05.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $278.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $194.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $264.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $286.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's payout ratio is 22.91%.

American Express 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.

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