Delaney Dennis R Makes New $549,000 Investment in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Delaney Dennis R bought a new position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,040 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $549,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $3,484,312,000 after acquiring an additional 268,572 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in American Express by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,025,632,000 after purchasing an additional 955,811 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,785,867,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,015,269 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,488,482,000 after purchasing an additional 408,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in American Express by 463.3% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's 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 sale, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $3.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $311.60. The company had a trading volume of 2,149,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,726,029. The company's 50 day moving average price is $304.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $291.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $216.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $329.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business 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 business posted $3.49 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given 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 presently 23.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AXP. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $311.05.

American Express Company 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.