First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires 8,995 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 107.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,392 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,995 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.6% in 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 last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd boosted its stake in American Express by 1.9% during the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $533,018,000 after acquiring an additional 67,575 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in American Express by 6.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,045 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $268,549,000 after acquiring an additional 102,977 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in American Express by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,663 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $294,856,000 after acquiring an additional 102,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in American Express by 1.5% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,480,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $220,825,000 after acquiring an additional 21,876 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of American Express from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.71.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 203,891 shares of company stock worth $44,373,196 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock traded down $2.57 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $231.46. The company had a trading volume of 4,140,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,217,571. The firm has a market cap of $166.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $240.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $223.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.22.

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

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

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.