Summit Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Summit Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,422 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 267 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,296,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its stake in American Express by 2.7% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 8,031 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,178,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Express by 3.1% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,423 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 430.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 293.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 31,428 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,523,000 after buying an additional 23,432 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $257.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $288.09. American Express has a one year low of $216.51 and a one year high of $326.28. The firm has a market cap of $181.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W upgraded American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. HSBC increased their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.81.

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.