Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Key Points

• Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC increased its stake in American Express by 11.3%, acquiring an additional 1,055 shares, bringing its total to 10,356 shares valued at approximately $2.79 million.
• Research firms have varied opinions on American Express, with 16 hold ratings, 8 buy ratings, and 2 sell ratings, indicating a mixed outlook despite the company’s strong quarterly earnings performance.
• American Express recently declared a $0.82 quarterly dividend with a yield of 1.06%, scheduled to be paid to shareholders on August 8th.

Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC raised its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 11.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,356 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the period. American Express accounts for 1.5% of Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $2,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth about $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have 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 company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $311.05.

American Express Stock Down 1.4%

AXP traded down $4.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $299.19. 2,713,976 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,417,700. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $305.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $291.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $329.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.25.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 64,950 shares of company stock worth $19,787,710 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

About American Express

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.