InterOcean Capital Group LLC Purchases 577 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

InterOcean Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 21.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,249 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. InterOcean Capital Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA raised its stake in shares of American Express by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 1.7 %

AXP stock traded up $3.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $239.37. 379,503 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,070,765. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $244.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $230.10 and a 200-day moving average of $203.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that American Express will post 13.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 110,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 110,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on American Express from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.71.

American Express Company 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.