N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC Acquires 674 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 76.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,551 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $308.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $329.14. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $305.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $291.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Two analysts have 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $311.05.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.