Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in American Express Company by 64.0%, acquiring an additional 1,428 shares and now holding 3,659 shares valued at approximately $985,000.
• American Express's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $4.08, surpassing expectations of $3.86, with revenues of $17.86 billion, a 9.3% increase from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $3.28 and a 1.0% yield.

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 64.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,659 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $1,454,667,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in American Express by 463.3% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,293,259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,959 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in American Express by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $4,849,777,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,445 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 27,625.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $581,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,278,711,000 after purchasing an additional 965,221 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on AXP. Barclays raised their target price on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 target price on American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $311.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. The trade was a 82.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,653,764.83. The trade was a 65.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP traded up $4.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $331.62. 2,980,947 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,304,664. The stock has a market cap of $230.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $311.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.27. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $332.06.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. Equities analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. American Express's payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

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.