Core Wealth Advisors Inc. Makes New $218,000 Investment in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Core Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express, acquiring 812 shares valued at approximately $218,000 in the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors have significantly increased their positions in American Express, including Nuveen LLC, which acquired shares worth about $1.45 billion during the same period.
• American Express reported $4.08 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a market cap of $230.77 billion and a dividend yield of 1.0% following a recent dividend announcement.

Core Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 812 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.7% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 8,588 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,311,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 26.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,970,014 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $530,032,000 after acquiring an additional 410,749 shares in the last quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.6% during the first quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 401,858 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $108,120,000 after acquiring an additional 6,165 shares in the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 170.1% during the first quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 1,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. DZ Bank cut American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $311.05.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded up $6.85 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $330.56. The stock had a trading volume of 2,483,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,902,952. The firm has a market cap of $230.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $312.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $290.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $332.07.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the 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 sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 157,724 shares of company stock worth $48,227,228. Company 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.