Woodline Partners LP Has $12.62 Million Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in American Express by 40.3% during Q1, acquiring an additional 13,468 shares to bring its total ownership to 46,889 shares valued at $12.6 million.
• A significant percentage of American Express's stock, 84.33%, is currently held by hedge funds and institutional investors, highlighting strong institutional interest in the company.
• American Express recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.0% with a payout ratio of 23.02%.

Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 40.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,889 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 13,468 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP's holdings in American Express were worth $12,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in American Express by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $183,037,000 after buying an additional 35,295 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its position in shares of American Express by 1.4% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $45,243,000 after purchasing an additional 2,259 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of American Express by 6.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,088,000 after purchasing an additional 5,693 shares during the period. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 368.7% in the first quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,791 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. The trade was a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. DZ Bank cut American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on American Express and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $315.20.

American Express Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $8.39 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $335.43. 963,989 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,859,372. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The business's 50-day moving average price is $313.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.32. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $337.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express 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.