Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Has $144.92 Million Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. cut its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 488,288 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 21,100 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.07% of American Express worth $144,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. HSBC increased their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on American Express from $340.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $295.05.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.4 %

AXP stock traded down $1.04 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $263.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 732,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,837,605. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $267.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $287.33. The company has a market capitalization of $184.80 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. American Express has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 prior year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. This is a positive change from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

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.