Vise Technologies Inc. Has $4.71 Million Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 41.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,880 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,669 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $4,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Up 0.1%

American Express stock traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $294.06. The company had a trading volume of 477,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,839,381. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. 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's fifty day moving average is $269.80 and its 200-day moving average is $288.63. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. This is an increase from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. American Express's payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $296.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.