Ignite Planners LLC Has $1.06 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Ignite Planners LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,639 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $1,112,747,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,399,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $449,521,000 after purchasing an additional 919,337 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 1,313.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,440,210,000 after purchasing an additional 714,370 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $713,202,000 after purchasing an additional 667,695 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 969.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 602,726 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $112,910,000 after purchasing an additional 546,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 price objective (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. HSBC upped their target price on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $220.30.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total transaction of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,948.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total value of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,602,896.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total transaction of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,948.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 177,717 shares of company stock valued at $41,680,999 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:AXP traded up $1.14 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $231.52. The stock had a trading volume of 2,152,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,051,531. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $244.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The company has a market cap of $166.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $233.96 and its 200-day moving average is $214.72.

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. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm 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 firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

American Express 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.