Fmr LLC Has $3.24 Billion Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Fmr LLC reduced its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,914,258 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 89,457 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,239,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. 2Xideas AG boosted its holdings in American Express by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. 2Xideas AG now owns 46,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $13,765,000 after purchasing an additional 13,173 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in American Express by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 290,864 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,326,000 after purchasing an additional 66,956 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in American Express by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 47,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $13,949,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 612,534 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $181,827,000 after buying an additional 43,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perennial Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,979 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Argus downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.24.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 5.8 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $233.50 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. 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.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.41%.

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.