Orca Wealth Management LLC Invests $324,000 in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Key Points

• Orca Wealth Management LLC has made a new investment of approximately $324,000 in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), acquiring 1,206 shares during the first quarter.
• In the first quarter, multiple other institutional investors also established new positions in American Express, with 84.33% of the stock now owned by these entities.
• American Express reported $4.08 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and has a dividend of $0.82 set to be paid on August 8th.

Orca Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,206 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brucke Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 6.7% during the first quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. now owns 3,314 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $465,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,745,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in American Express by 268.1% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 3,699 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $995,000 after acquiring an additional 2,694 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in American Express by 122.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,818 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $3,718,000 after acquiring an additional 7,616 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on AXP shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $311.05.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock traded down $4.22 during trading on Thursday, reaching $299.19. The company had a trading volume of 2,713,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,417,700. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $305.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.53. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $329.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.20 billion, a PE ratio of 21.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid 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 yield of 1.1%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This trade represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 64,950 shares of company stock worth $19,787,710 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.