First Manhattan CO. LLC. Buys 6,327 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 540,679 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 6,327 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned approximately 0.08% of American Express worth $164,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $832,000. Keybank National Association OH grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $103,858,000 after buying an additional 12,364 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,626,000 after buying an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,982 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $5,638,000 after buying an additional 2,826 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:AXP traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $284.43. 2,704,444 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,831,314. American Express has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $326.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $263.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $287.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 22.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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 note on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. HSBC raised their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on American Express from $340.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Baird R W upgraded American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $295.05.

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.