Pinebridge Investments L.P. Has $34.65 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. cut its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 33.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 116,752 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 59,173 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in American Express were worth $34,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $252.69 on Wednesday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $270.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.37. 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 has a market cap of $177.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. This is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, 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. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of American Express from $340.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup lowered their target price on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.16.

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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