Caxton Associates LP Takes Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Caxton Associates LP acquired a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 4,575 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $1,358,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $3,484,312,000 after acquiring an additional 268,572 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,600,277,000 after purchasing an additional 95,927 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,025,632,000 after purchasing an additional 955,811 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $1,785,867,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in American Express by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,434 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,151,080,000 after buying an additional 14,282 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AXP. HSBC boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point cut their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $295.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE AXP opened at $278.02 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $264.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $286.97. The stock has a market cap of $194.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. This is an increase from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's dividend 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.

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