Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 645,013 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 7,999 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of American Express worth $191,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped 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 lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $296.38.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP traded down $8.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $295.23. 3,277,941 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,481,628. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $307.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $284.27. 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 company has a market cap of $207.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 1 year low of $212.48 and a 1 year high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

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.