Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV Invests $285,000 in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Key Points

• Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV acquired a new stake in American Express, purchasing 1,058 shares valued at approximately $285,000 in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Principal Financial Group and Mirae Asset Global Investments, have also increased their holdings in American Express, indicating strong institutional interest.
• American Express recently reported earnings of $4.08 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a $0.82 quarterly dividend to be paid on August 8th.

Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV purchased a new position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,058 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. GHE LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $5,052,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 152,682 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $44,434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shelton Capital Management increased its stake in shares of American Express by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 38,626 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $11,464,000 after buying an additional 8,018 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company's stock, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:AXP traded up $2.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $297.41. 1,778,023 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,640,008. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $306.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.91. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $329.14. The company has a market cap of $206.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced 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 during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. Equities analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a 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 stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $311.05.

American Express Company 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.