KLCM Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,358 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

KLCM Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,358 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new position in American Express during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $217.62 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.58. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $231.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.83 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 given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC raised their target price on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $235.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $212.00 to $222.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $201.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

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 stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.