American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by HHM Wealth Advisors LLC

HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,486 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its stake in American Express by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Trading Down 0.6 %

AXP stock traded down $1.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $235.64. 2,993,335 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,154,841. The company has a market capitalization of $169.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $240.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $222.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $191.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently 23.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 210,920 shares of company stock worth $45,804,652 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.