Ninety One UK Ltd Has $38.23 Million Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Ninety One UK Ltd lessened its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 204,057 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 9,737 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $38,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new stake in American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $221.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Stephens upgraded American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $201.62.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $217.51 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $219.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.79. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $231.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.32. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.98%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.