Act Two Investors LLC Purchases Shares of 1,645 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Act Two Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,645 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $1,112,747,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,540,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 1,313.2% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,440,210,000 after acquiring an additional 714,370 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $713,202,000 after purchasing an additional 667,695 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP boosted its stake in American Express by 79.2% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 887,649 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $166,292,000 after purchasing an additional 392,269 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock traded up $2.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $238.18. 1,624,528 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,698,561. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $230.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $244.41.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its 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 analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.01 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total transaction of $3,578,087.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,957,361.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other American Express news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total transaction of $3,578,087.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,957,361.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total transaction of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 110,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,642,315.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.00.

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.