American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,570,160 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 65,578 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.37% of American Express worth $754,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Alteri Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $658,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,412 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,543 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares during the period. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, AlTi Global Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 8,569 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,619,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $2.35 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $275.68. 3,060,748 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,827,550. The stock has a market cap of $193.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $263.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $286.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus lowered American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $295.05.

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.