Vanguard Group Inc. Has $13.43 Billion Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,237,993 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,609 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 6.42% of American Express worth $13,426,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AXP. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Argus lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $270.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.28. The firm has a market cap of $190.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $298.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 dividend yield of 1.21%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

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.