Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC Acquires Shares of 1,797 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,797 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 156.2% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 52,957 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,262,000 after purchasing an additional 32,287 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 5.9% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,301 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 13.3% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 27,929 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,467,000 after purchasing an additional 3,273 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in American Express by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 26,607 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,161,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in American Express by 217.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,804 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $881,000 after buying an additional 2,604 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $312.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $315.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $299.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.73.

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. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Compass Point raised their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.09.

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.