Millington Financial Advisors LLC Takes $511,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Millington Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,727 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $511,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA raised its holdings in American Express by 134.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Robert W. Baird lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $208.24.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP traded up $5.88 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $238.88. The company had a trading volume of 4,684,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,180,570. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $220.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.56. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $239.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.59, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.06%.

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.