Bristlecone Advisors LLC Invests $202,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,076 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of American Express by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 4,894 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,566 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 1,818 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Stephens raised shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $212.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $196.25.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $224.27 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $217.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.52. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $231.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.