Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 35.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,002 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 14,826 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $7,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Keybank National Association OH increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $103,858,000 after acquiring an additional 12,364 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 26,102 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $7,747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,471 shares during the last quarter. Griffith & Werner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,311,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 50,009 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $14,842,000 after buying an additional 4,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,334 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,973,000 after buying an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America upgraded American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Argus downgraded American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $296.05.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on AXP
Insider Activity
In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% 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 company insiders.
American Express Trading Up 1.0%
Shares of American Express stock opened at $311.75 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $218.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $287.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $288.94. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28.
American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced 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. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.
American Express Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 22.91%.
American Express Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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