American Express (NYSE:AXP) Position Boosted by Keybank National Association OH

Keybank National Association OH grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 349,937 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,364 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH's holdings in American Express were worth $103,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Jag Capital Management LLC lifted its position in American Express by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 18,482 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $5,485,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its stake in shares of American Express by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 21,834 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $6,480,000 after purchasing an additional 3,005 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $886,000. Finally, Bravias Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $284,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company'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 sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HSBC raised their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock traded up $0.73 on Wednesday, reaching $284.20. 2,490,503 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,534,249. The firm has a market cap of $199.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 1-year low of $214.51 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company's 50-day moving average is $306.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. American Express's payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

American Express 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.