Stratos Investment Management LLC Increases Position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Stratos Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 19.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,797 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 6,409 shares during the quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $10,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 target price on American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $297.25.

American Express Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of AXP stock traded down $5.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $317.26. 2,641,477 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,841,471. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $329.14. The stock has a market cap of $222.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock's fifty day moving average is $296.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.00.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. 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 company earned $3.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.