Whittier Trust Co. Trims Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Whittier Trust Co. reduced its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,330 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 539 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $20,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,104,735,000 after buying an additional 86,100 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,600,277,000 after acquiring an additional 95,927 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in American Express by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,249,415,000 after acquiring an additional 239,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in American Express by 0.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,074,168,000 after purchasing an additional 33,193 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $270.66 on Thursday. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $299.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.35. The company has a market capitalization of $190.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.