American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Voya Investment Management LLC

Voya Investment Management LLC decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,889 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 12,048 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $46,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,296,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in American Express by 2.7% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 8,031 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,178,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 3.1% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,423 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 430.6% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of American Express by 293.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 31,428 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $8,523,000 after purchasing an additional 23,432 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition 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 the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 23,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America upgraded American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $295.05.

American Express Trading Up 0.1 %

AXP traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $264.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,561,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,840,795. American Express has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $326.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $266.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $287.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $185.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. This is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

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.