Centiva Capital LP Has $597,000 Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Centiva Capital LP reduced its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 84.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,010 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 11,173 shares during the quarter. Centiva Capital LP's holdings in American Express were worth $597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $1,785,867,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 186.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $886,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943,463 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 346.2% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $600,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,747 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 36,719.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $300,289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $292,081,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus lowered American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Compass Point reduced their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $295.05.

American Express Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE AXP traded up $3.36 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $302.28. 3,531,637 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,839,396. American Express has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $263.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.44. 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 company has a market capitalization of $211.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, 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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. American Express's payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value 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 trade 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 insiders.

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.