DCM Advisors LLC Grows Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

DCM Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,604 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 2,274 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up about 4.5% of DCM Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. DCM Advisors LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $9,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point decreased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on 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 issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $296.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $1.86 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $285.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,724,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,849,593. American Express has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $326.28. The company has a market cap of $199.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $269.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.61. 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 (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. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.91%.

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.