American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 128,685 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,513 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises about 0.7% of Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $38,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,104,735,000 after purchasing an additional 86,100 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 8.5% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 5.5% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.8% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 33,193 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AXP. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.24.

American Express Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $264.36 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $300.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.45. 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 12-month low of $214.51 and a 12-month high of $326.28. The firm has a market cap of $185.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express 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.