U S Global Investors Inc. Acquires 805 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 17.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,305 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $1,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 268,572 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $2,600,277,000 after acquiring an additional 95,927 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 16.3% during the 4th 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,785,867,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.9% during 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 worth $1,488,482,000 after acquiring an additional 408,283 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. 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 research note on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $296.05.

American Express Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE AXP traded up $6.06 on Friday, hitting $317.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,605,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,831,690. 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 Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The company's 50-day moving average is $288.89 and its 200 day moving average is $288.96. The firm has a market cap of $222.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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