Merit Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 27.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,997 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,875 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $5,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Auxier Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 3.6% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its position in American Express by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Strategies LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 2.5% in the third quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $312.75. The company had a trading volume of 2,180,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,022,091. The stock has a market cap of $220.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company's 50 day moving average price is $299.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $315.40.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. HSBC downgraded American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $278.09.

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.