Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Decreases Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC cut its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,166,279 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 24,973 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned about 0.17% of American Express worth $346,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $265.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $186.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $295.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.43. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $214.51 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Argus cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America decreased their target price on American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.57.

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.