Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in American Express Company $AXP

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 79.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,397 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 16,581 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $11,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth about $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of American Express by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,849,777,000 after buying an additional 2,168,445 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,278,711,000 after buying an additional 965,221 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after buying an additional 605,900 shares during the period. Finally, Provident Trust Co. acquired a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $126,119,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of AXP opened at $330.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.71 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.29. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $349.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $320.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.43.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.02%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. This trade represents a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 target price (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.95.

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.