Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Buys New Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,016 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,112,747,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $433,709,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in American Express by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,399,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $449,521,000 after buying an additional 919,337 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1,313.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,440,210,000 after buying an additional 714,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in American Express by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $713,202,000 after acquiring an additional 667,695 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total transaction of $3,578,087.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,957,361.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total value of $829,500.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,602,896.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total transaction of $3,578,087.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,957,361.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 138,844 shares of company stock valued at $32,404,735 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.70.

American Express Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded down $3.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $243.29. 1,414,540 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,006,158. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $253.73. The company has a market cap of $172.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $236.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.03.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.36 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 given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.