FLC Capital Advisors Invests $216,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

FLC Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,155 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its position in American Express by 2.1% during the second quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 20,444 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,561,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in American Express by 25.0% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 499,340 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $74,584,000 after buying an additional 99,813 shares in the last quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. lifted its position in American Express by 7.6% during the second quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 1,785,141 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $310,971,000 after buying an additional 125,990 shares in the last quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC lifted its position in American Express by 1.0% during the third quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 23,987 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,579,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in American Express by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,663 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $294,856,000 after buying an additional 102,132 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $227.69. 2,273,603 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,159,487. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $231.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $211.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.65.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 0.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 21.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt started coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $208.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’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 directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’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 directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.