Trueblood Wealth Management LLC Invests $359,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,914 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AXP. RB Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 5.3% during the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 3,783 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $707,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC grew its stake in American Express by 0.4% in the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 27,029 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,054,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in American Express by 5.6% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,421 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in American Express by 207.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 946 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $397,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AXP. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price target on American Express from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on American Express in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Stephens upgraded American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.84.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $227.69. 2,274,928 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,159,509. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $231.69. The company has a market cap of $164.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $211.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.65.

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

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Company 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.