Brendel Financial Advisors LLC Takes $2.63 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Brendel Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 14,021 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $2,627,000. American Express accounts for 1.7% of Brendel Financial Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its position in shares of American Express by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $235.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of American Express from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $222.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $221.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $201.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Up 6.2 %

AXP traded up $13.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $231.04. 7,573,684 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,444,438. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $220.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.95. The company has a market cap of $167.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $231.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

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.