GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. Purchases New Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. acquired a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,137 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in American Express by 0.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,045 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $268,549,000 after acquiring an additional 102,977 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in American Express by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,663 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $294,856,000 after acquiring an additional 102,132 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.5% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,480,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $220,825,000 after acquiring an additional 21,876 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth about $210,540,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of American Express from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.71.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $230.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market cap of $165.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $224.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.88. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.