Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Has $31.64 Million Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,620 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 14,111 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up 1.5% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $31,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 239,173 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,074,168,000 after purchasing an additional 33,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew 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 buying an additional 247,864 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 6,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $5.49 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $318.05. 1,352,529 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,247,976. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $299.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $272.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $224.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1 year low of $184.06 and a 1 year high of $319.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. American Express's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC lowered American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $278.09.

About American Express

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.