Narus Financial Partners LLC Invests $213,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Narus Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 934 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 62.5% in the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, 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 value of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total value of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,602,896.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999 in the last three months. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. HSBC raised their price target on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup assumed coverage on American Express in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.30.

American Express Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE AXP opened at $235.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $244.41. The stock has a market cap of $169.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.79.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

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.