Penserra Capital Management LLC Sells 8,941 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Penserra Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 62,455 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 8,941 shares during the quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $16,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trillium Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in American Express by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,510 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc boosted its holdings in American Express by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 2,967 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CFO4Life Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Argus cut shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $327.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has 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, American Express presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $295.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm'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 owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

AXP traded up $2.75 on Friday, hitting $328.36. 1,541,782 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,845,008. The business has a 50-day moving average of $295.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.85. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $329.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.25.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

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.