Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 591,437 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 15,468 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.08% of American Express worth $175,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 86,100 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 1.1% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 95,927 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $1,785,867,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,434 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,151,080,000 after purchasing an additional 14,282 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling at American Express
In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.57.
View Our Latest Research Report on AXP
American Express Trading Down 10.0 %
Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $27.54 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $247.71. The company had a trading volume of 7,733,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,793,520. The stock has a market cap of $174.02 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a one year low of $214.51 and a one year high of $326.28. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $290.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $289.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.
American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.
American Express Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.
American Express Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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