D.A. Davidson & CO. Acquires 2,309 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 35,620 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,309 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in American Express were worth $9,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 368.7% in the first quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,791 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 95,443 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,679,000 after buying an additional 7,822 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in American Express by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $25,088,000 after acquiring an additional 5,693 shares during the period. Berry Wealth Group LP bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at $296,000. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 5,305 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $295.25.

American Express Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of American Express stock traded up $2.75 on Friday, reaching $328.36. 1,541,782 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,843,582. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $329.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.25. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $294.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.65.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS 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 issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. American Express's payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.