KG&L Capital Management LLC Has $1.33 Million Holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

KG&L Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 390.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,959 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,947 shares during the quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $1,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in American Express by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $3,484,312,000 after buying an additional 268,572 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,600,277,000 after acquiring an additional 95,927 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in American Express by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,025,632,000 after acquiring an additional 955,811 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $1,785,867,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.9% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 408,283 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents 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 owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of American Express stock traded up $3.16 during trading on Thursday, hitting $311.75. The stock had a trading volume of 3,254,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,827,861. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $326.28. 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 market capitalization of $218.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $286.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.84.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. 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 report on Tuesday, March 18th. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Baird R W upgraded American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $296.05.

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.