Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. Takes Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,877 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,447,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.05.

American Express Trading Down 0.6%

American Express stock opened at $285.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $269.05 and its 200-day moving average is $288.60. The company has a market cap of $199.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.