Seven Eight Capital LP Makes New $213,000 Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 936 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 11,587 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 417.3% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $77,876,000 after acquiring an additional 335,338 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $2,460,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,806 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $247.00 to $263.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Compass Point began coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.70.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $239.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $236.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $223.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.62. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $253.73.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.06%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total value of $3,578,087.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,957,361.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other American Express news, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total transaction of $829,500.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,602,896.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total transaction of $3,578,087.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,957,361.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 138,844 shares of company stock worth $32,404,735 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About American Express

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.