American Express (NYSE:AXP) Position Raised by Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 194,016 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 16,242 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $44,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIC Wealth LLC increased its position in American Express by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. CIC Wealth LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC increased its position in American Express by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 6,330 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,441,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in American Express by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its position in American Express by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 62.5% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. DZ Bank cut American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $210.71.

American Express Trading Up 0.4 %

American Express stock traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $232.50. The stock had a trading volume of 2,700,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,211,881. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $240.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 23.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About American Express

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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