TD Asset Management Inc. Sells 42,601 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

TD Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,299,819 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 42,601 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc. owned 0.33% of American Express worth $682,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express by 30.6% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,049 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,027,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $352,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 3,003 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its position in American Express by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 408,679 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $110,834,000 after purchasing an additional 5,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,620 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AXP. UBS Group upped their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Baird R W raised American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.57.

American Express Stock Down 2.6 %

AXP traded down $7.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $264.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,532,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,790,918. The business's fifty day moving average price is $295.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $289.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The company has a market cap of $186.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

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 for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.41%.

Insider Activity

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

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.