Artemis Investment Management LLP Boosts Stock Position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 24.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,950 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 6,795 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP's holdings in American Express were worth $9,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 798 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in American Express by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 101,759 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $27,378,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 20.6% in the first quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.9% in the first quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 23,618 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $6,354,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.4% in the first quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 3,217 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $865,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Trading Up 1.9%

American Express stock traded up $6.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $317.48. 4,605,056 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,835,929. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $326.28. The company has a market capitalization of $222.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $288.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $289.05.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. American Express's payout ratio is 22.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Baird R W upgraded American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. 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 research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Argus downgraded American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 now owns 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The sale 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 on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% 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 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.