Lionshead Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 1,242 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Lionshead Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,242 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its stake in American Express by 76.2% in the 4th quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 43,056 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $12,779,000 after buying an additional 18,615 shares in the last quarter. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $452,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $523,000. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 2,795 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 14,521 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $4,310,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Compass Point decreased their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $295.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE AXP traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $299.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,955,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,834,151. The firm's 50 day moving average is $264.55 and its 200 day moving average is $287.63. The company has a market capitalization of $209.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is an increase from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. 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.