American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC lowered its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,195,120 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 27,065 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $223,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $1,112,747,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $713,202,000 after purchasing an additional 667,695 shares during the period. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of American Express by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 2,067,858 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $387,392,000 after purchasing an additional 142,763 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,045 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $268,549,000 after purchasing an additional 102,977 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. HSBC lifted their target price on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.71.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock remained flat at $242.82 during trading on Monday. The stock had a trading volume of 875,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,106,177. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $228.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.56. The company has a market cap of $174.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $244.41.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. 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 payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 110,318 shares in the company, valued at $25,642,315.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.