Legacy Capital Group California Inc. Makes New $561,000 Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. purchased a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $561,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth about $433,709,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after purchasing an additional 906,353 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in shares of American Express by 924.2% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,923,399,000 after purchasing an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth about $114,990,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $267.23 on Friday. American Express has a 52-week low of $141.02 and a 52-week high of $286.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $263.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.09.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AXP. Compass Point began coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays raised their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.