Quilter Plc Buys 15,602 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Quilter Plc raised its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 17.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 105,774 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,602 shares during the quarter. Quilter Plc's holdings in American Express were worth $28,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $311.75 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $287.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $288.94. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $218.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 22.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Bank of America upgraded American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. BTIG Research lowered their price target on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Baird R W upgraded shares of American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $296.05.

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.

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