Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 24,966 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 16.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 177,648 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 24,966 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $47,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Arcus Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,623 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 2,414 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 5,568 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,498,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,104 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,642,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 252,967 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $68,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Baird R W upgraded American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $305.74.

American Express Stock Down 1.8%

AXP stock traded down $5.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $319.49. The stock had a trading volume of 2,090,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,847,673. The firm has a market cap of $223.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $300.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $290.68. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $329.14. 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 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 analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's 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 directly owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 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.