Fragasso Group Inc. Has $442,000 Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Fragasso Group Inc. increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 58.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,940 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the quarter. Fragasso Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its holdings in American Express by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup assumed coverage on American Express in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. HSBC lifted their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.30.

American Express Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $230.38 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $233.69 and a 200-day moving average of $213.65. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $244.41. The stock has a market cap of $165.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13 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. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was 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 directly owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,957,361.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.