Provident Trust Co. Purchases Shares of 468,757 American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Provident Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 468,757 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $126,119,000. American Express makes up approximately 2.4% of Provident Trust Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Provident Trust Co. owned 0.07% of American Express at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 268,572 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of American Express by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,025,632,000 after purchasing an additional 955,811 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,785,867,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 8.9% in 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 valued at $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 grew its stake in shares of American Express by 463.3% in 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 valued at $1,293,259,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,959 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $327.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $4.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $316.26. The company had a trading volume of 3,218,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,845,486. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $329.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $303.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $290.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.