Tidal Investments LLC Increases Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 275.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 166,648 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 122,258 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $49,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $832,000. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in shares of American Express by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $103,858,000 after acquiring an additional 12,364 shares in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,982 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $5,638,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 26,102 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $7,747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,471 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus lowered shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $295.05.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded down $10.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $285.91. 3,444,567 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,851,846. The stock has a market capitalization of $200.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $326.28. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $267.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.48.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. American Express's payout ratio is currently 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.