Comerica Bank Grows Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Comerica Bank raised its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 164,456 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in American Express were worth $48,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $996,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its stake in American Express by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 1,716 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Compass Point cut their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $267.02 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $287.11. American Express has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

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.