American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,857 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 1,465 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $909,575,000 after acquiring an additional 496,153 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $713,202,000 after acquiring an additional 667,695 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,399,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $449,521,000 after acquiring an additional 919,337 shares during the period. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 2,067,858 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $387,392,000 after acquiring an additional 142,763 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, June 3rd. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, HSBC increased their price target on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $220.30.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total transaction of $3,578,087.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,957,361.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total value of $3,578,087.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,957,361.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total transaction of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 258 shares in the company, valued at $59,948.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 177,717 shares of company stock valued at $41,680,999. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $0.26 during trading on Thursday, reaching $235.71. 1,365,850 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,733,787. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $234.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.31. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $244.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $169.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

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.