Foster & Motley Inc. Invests $293,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,564 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 85.3% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 24,689 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,625,000 after purchasing an additional 11,367 shares during the last quarter. Diversified LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $308,000. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $206,000. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $232,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXP. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 8th. DZ Bank cut shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.52.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $239.23 on Thursday. 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 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $221.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.53.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.98 EPS for the current 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 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 payout ratio is 23.06%.

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.