Private Advisor Group LLC Grows Stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,651 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,867 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $15,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in 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 valued at $1,293,259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,959 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in American Express by 27,625.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 186.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $886,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 346.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $600,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,747 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 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 this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AXP. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $327.00 target price (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.68.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $6.97 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $308.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,478,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,841,088. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $329.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.25. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $304.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.09.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

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.