Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Acquires 3,788 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,090 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,788 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $14,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its stake in American Express by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other 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 value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total value of $829,500.56. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,932 shares in the company, valued at $4,602,896.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.00.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $238.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $230.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $204.28. The company has a market cap of $171.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $244.41.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.01 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

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.