AJOVista LLC Takes Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

AJOVista LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,048 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $210,540,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 1,313.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,440,210,000 after buying an additional 714,370 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $73,906,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 636.7% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 442,307 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $65,988,000 after buying an additional 382,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 417.3% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $77,876,000 after buying an additional 335,338 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $1.73 during trading on Friday, hitting $230.77. The company had a trading volume of 3,203,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,577,762. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.30. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $240.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AXP. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $221.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.71.

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.