943 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Acquired by Old North State Trust LLC

Old North State Trust LLC bought a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 943 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Capital & Planning LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $213,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,495 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,438 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,831,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $835,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $296.05.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP traded down $1.34 on Friday, reaching $294.04. The stock had a trading volume of 5,251,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,856,123. The company has a market capitalization of $206.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $270.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.72.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. American Express's payout ratio is 22.91%.

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.