Boston Partners Increases Stock Position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Key Points

• Boston Partners has increased its holdings in American Express by 1.8% in Q1, now owning nearly 1.96 million shares worth approximately $525 million.
• Insider sales have been notable, with Anna Marrs selling 5,500 shares and Glenda G. Mcneal selling 50,000 shares, indicating a significant decrease in their ownership stakes.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82, representing an annualized yield of 1.1% and a payout ratio of 23.02%.

Boston Partners boosted its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,957,784 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 33,885 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned 0.28% of American Express worth $525,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 4.7% during the first quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 772 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of American Express by 2.3% during the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,661 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 2.5% during the first quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 5,236 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. The trade was a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 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 corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on shares of American Express and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $311.05.

American Express Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of AXP traded down $2.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $305.36. The company had a trading volume of 2,727,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,531,360. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $307.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.34. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $329.14. The company has a market capitalization of $212.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's payout ratio 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.