American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Alta Advisers Ltd

Alta Advisers Ltd boosted its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 48.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,742 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd's holdings in American Express were worth $738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st 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 $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new stake in American Express during the first quarter valued at $34,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America raised American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Argus downgraded American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.05.

American Express Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $3.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $322.59. 3,836,060 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,838,022. The stock has a market cap of $226.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $290.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $289.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released 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. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% 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.

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.