PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 6,464 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. decreased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,070,066 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 6,464 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned 0.15% of American Express worth $317,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,104,735,000 after acquiring an additional 86,100 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,600,277,000 after acquiring an additional 95,927 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,249,415,000 after acquiring an additional 239,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,074,168,000 after purchasing an additional 33,193 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HSBC raised their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE AXP opened at $273.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 1-year low of $214.51 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $305.44 and a 200-day moving average of $287.63. The company has a market cap of $191.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

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.