DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Has $40.38 Million Stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale cut its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,441 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 933 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale's holdings in American Express were worth $40,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 463.3% in 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 buying an additional 3,583,959 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $581,914,000 after buying an additional 2,155,045 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 186.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $886,426,000 after buying an additional 1,943,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 346.2% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $600,072,000 after buying an additional 1,568,747 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $305.74.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock traded down $5.75 on Friday, hitting $319.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,090,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,848,618. The firm has a market cap of $223.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.25. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $300.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $290.49. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $329.14.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.91%.

About American Express

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.