American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. lessened its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 96.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,834 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 67,667 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in American Express were worth $841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction 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 $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $296.38.

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American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $273.13 on Monday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $305.44 and its 200-day moving average is $288.17. American Express has a 12-month low of $214.51 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (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 anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 1.20%. This is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

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.

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