American Express Company $AXP Shares Acquired by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 11.0% during the first quarter, now holding a total of 62,838 shares valued at approximately $16.9 million.
• Several hedge funds made significant changes to their holdings, with Nuveen LLC acquiring a new stake worth $1.45 billion and DZ BANK AG increasing its position by 463.3%.
• American Express recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, with a current annualized yield of 1.0% and a payout ratio of 23.02%.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lifted its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 11.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,838 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,239 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in American Express were worth $16,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth about $1,454,667,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in shares of American Express by 463.3% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,293,259,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of American Express by 13.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $4,849,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,445 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 27,625.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $581,914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in American Express by 25.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,278,711,000 after acquiring an additional 965,221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. This trade represents a 87.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,555,901 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Up 1.5%

AXP stock opened at $320.61 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $329.14. The company's 50 day moving average is $309.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $289.89. The stock has a market cap of $223.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $311.05.

American Express 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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