Foster & Motley Inc. Takes $293,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,564 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in American Express by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,037,387,000 after acquiring an additional 41,443 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd lifted its position in American Express by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $533,018,000 after acquiring an additional 67,575 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in American Express by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,045 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $268,549,000 after acquiring an additional 102,977 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in American Express by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,663 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $294,856,000 after acquiring an additional 102,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of American Express by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,480,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $220,825,000 after purchasing an additional 21,876 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. DZ Bank lowered American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, 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. Insiders sold a total of 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $239.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $221.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.53. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that American Express will post 12.98 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

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.