American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 10.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 997 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $227,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH boosted its position in American Express by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 30,028 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,837,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 11.9% during the first quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,517 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Talbot Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth about $205,000. Kowal Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $285,000. Finally, Horizon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in American Express by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,246 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of American Express stock traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $234.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 712,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,037,004. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $244.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $234.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $216.40.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.06%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total transaction of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 110,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 110,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total value of $3,578,087.46. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,371 shares in the company, valued at $3,957,361.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 177,717 shares of company stock valued at $41,680,999. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC lifted their price target on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $220.30.

American Express Company 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.