Legal & General Group Plc Sells 1,240,390 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 25.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,725,145 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,240,390 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,105,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 5.8 %

American Express stock opened at $233.50 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $288.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.63. American Express has a 1-year low of $214.51 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AXP. Bank of America reduced their target price on American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. HSBC increased their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently 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.