Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV Acquires 1,100 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV boosted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,600 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA increased its holdings in American Express by 134.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $221.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on American Express in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $235.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens raised American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $201.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded up $1.46 on Thursday, reaching $219.13. 1,579,939 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,043,898. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $219.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.58. The stock has a market cap of $158.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $231.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. American Express’s payout ratio is 24.98%.

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.