IHT Wealth Management LLC Buys 1,709 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,995 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares during the quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 5,063.5% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,690,194 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $372,915,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638,094 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of American Express by 79.6% during the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,713,458 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $366,073,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202,912 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of American Express by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,807,168 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $666,377,000 after purchasing an additional 675,971 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 44,553,661 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,010,732,000 after purchasing an additional 665,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in American Express by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,110,826 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $284,769,000 after acquiring an additional 629,960 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.30% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $160.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a 1-year low of $130.65 and a 1-year high of $194.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $167.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 27th. The payment services company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.25 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 14.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 11.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 7th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 5th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.14%.

American Express declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 8th that permits the company to repurchase 120,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the payment services company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Redburn Partners initiated coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, November 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Express from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. Stephens downgraded American Express from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $134.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. UBS Group initiated coverage on American Express in a research report on Monday, November 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on American Express from $128.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 15,217 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.18, for a total value of $2,635,280.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,712 shares in the company, valued at $2,374,644.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Denise Pickett sold 28,688 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $5,186,216.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,270,054.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 15,217 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.18, for a total value of $2,635,280.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,712 shares in the company, valued at $2,374,644.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,361 shares of company stock worth $8,773,678. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About American Express

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American Express Co engages in the provision of charge and credit card products and travel-related services. It operates through the following segments: U.S Consumer Services (USCS), Commercial Services (CS), International Card Services (ICS), Global Merchant and Network Services (GMNS), and Corporate and Other.