Advisor Resource Council Makes New Investment in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Advisor Resource Council purchased a new position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,740 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $737,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Trading Up 0.7%

AXP stock traded up $2.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $298.50. The company had a trading volume of 5,687,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,826,486. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $283.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.59. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $209.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus downgraded shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America raised American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. BTIG Research lowered their price target on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $296.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express 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 $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.