Allied Investment Advisors LLC Takes $294,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Allied Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 989 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in American Express by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $3,104,735,000 after buying an additional 86,100 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 33,193 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, 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 transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded down $8.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $295.23. The stock had a trading volume of 3,277,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,481,628. The firm's 50 day moving average is $307.68 and its 200 day moving average is $283.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a twelve month low of $212.48 and a twelve month high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS 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 research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AXP. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.38.

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.