SageView Advisory Group LLC Acquires 5,997 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 121.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,924 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 5,997 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $220.30.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $228.35 on Tuesday. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $244.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.22. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $232.79 and a 200-day moving average of $212.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 110,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999 over the last three months. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About American Express

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.