Woodline Partners LP Invests $9.92 Million in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 33,421 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $9,919,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in American Express by 463.3% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,293,259,000 after buying an additional 3,583,959 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in American Express by 186.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $886,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,463 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 346.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $600,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in American Express by 36,719.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $300,289,000 after buying an additional 1,009,042 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AXP. Bank of America upgraded American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W upgraded American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $296.05.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded up $8.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $293.35. 1,486,301 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,844,770. The company has a market cap of $205.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $269.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders 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 1.12%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 22.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were 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 directly owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.