American Express (NYSE:AXP) is Drexel Morgan & Co.'s 10th Largest Position

Drexel Morgan & Co. reduced its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 35.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,918 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 25,000 shares during the period. American Express makes up 2.8% of Drexel Morgan & Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Drexel Morgan & Co.'s holdings in American Express were worth $13,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in American Express by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,401 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 122.0% during the 4th quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,860 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $8,698,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,578,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC upped their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial assumed coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.57.

American Express Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE AXP traded down $1.43 during trading on Thursday, reaching $274.57. 329,088 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,620,715. American Express has a 12-month low of $214.51 and a 12-month high of $326.28. 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 firm has a market cap of $192.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $296.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $289.15.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. This is an increase from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company's stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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.