American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stake Lifted by Doliver Advisors LP

Doliver Advisors LP raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,633 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Doliver Advisors LP’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after buying an additional 906,353 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position 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 worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 924.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 59,816.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after buying an additional 681,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in American Express by 71.9% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $269,547,000 after buying an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded down $1.50 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $301.58. 1,806,086 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,883,564. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $293.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $267.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $268.95.

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.