American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Stake Boosted by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 252,967 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,120 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $68,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $183,037,000 after purchasing an additional 35,295 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its stake in American Express by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $45,243,000 after purchasing an additional 2,259 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in American Express by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,088,000 after purchasing an additional 5,693 shares in the last quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 368.7% during the 1st quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 95,443 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,679,000 after purchasing an additional 7,822 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related 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 sale, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:AXP traded down $5.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $319.49. The stock had a trading volume of 2,090,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,848,618. The company has a market capitalization of $223.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $329.14. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $300.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $290.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price objective on American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Baird R W raised American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $305.74.

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.