Kanawha Capital Management LLC Buys 561 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,032 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in American Express by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. GHE LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,052,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 37,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $11,129,000 after buying an additional 12,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LGT Group Foundation grew its position in American Express by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 19,353 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,744,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $322.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $291.82 and a 200 day moving average of $289.23. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America upgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, BTIG Research decreased their price objective on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.05.

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.