Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,096 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 797 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for approximately 2.5% of Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $12,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in American Express by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 499,340 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $74,584,000 after buying an additional 99,813 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 417.3% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $77,876,000 after buying an additional 335,338 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 1,313.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,440,210,000 after acquiring an additional 714,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GYL Financial Synergies LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 1.0% during the third quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 23,987 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,579,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 over the last quarter. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE AXP traded up $0.20 during trading on Monday, hitting $218.40. 3,383,294 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,059,448. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $231.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $218.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.40. The firm has a market cap of $158.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AXP. HSBC boosted their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.62.

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.