Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Express by 1.3% to hold approximately 45.8 million shares, valued at over $12.3 billion.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs and Northern Trust Corp, have increased their holdings in American Express, reflecting growing confidence in the company.
• Analysts have varied target price estimates for American Express, with Deutsche Bank raising its target from $371 to $375, while JPMorgan Chase increased its target from $260 to $342.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 605,900 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 6.54% of American Express worth $12,334,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 955,811 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 408,283 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,278,711,000 after buying an additional 965,221 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in shares of American Express by 463.3% during 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 worth $1,293,259,000 after buying an additional 3,583,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,704,271 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,099,391,000 after acquiring an additional 74,977 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This trade represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $311.05.

American Express Stock Down 0.6%

AXP opened at $296.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $306.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.14. The company has a market cap of $206.51 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.28. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $329.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.49 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.02%.

American Express Company Profile

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.

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