American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Dana Investment Advisors Inc.

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,371 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for approximately 1.0% of Dana Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $29,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 430.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $103,858,000 after purchasing an additional 12,364 shares during the last quarter. XML Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point cut their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their target price on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $284.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $199.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $306.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $287.59. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $214.51 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. 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. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. American Express's payout ratio is 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.

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