American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd trimmed its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 39.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 25,266 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 16,147 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $7,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kanawha Capital Management LLC increased its stake in American Express by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 15,471 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the period. GFG Capital LLC increased its stake in American Express by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. GFG Capital LLC now owns 10,407 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its stake in American Express by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 432,051 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $128,228,000 after buying an additional 12,678 shares during the period. Vicus Capital boosted its stake in American Express by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 1,913 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Pictet & Cie SA bought a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $6,095,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $311.37 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $306.96 and its 200-day moving average is $282.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $209.10 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The company has a market capitalization of $219.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 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 expect that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 19.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by 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.