American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by Pittenger & Anderson Inc.

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 68.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,100 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd increased its stake in shares of American Express by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $533,018,000 after acquiring an additional 67,575 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in American Express by 6.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,045 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $268,549,000 after buying an additional 102,977 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in American Express by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,663 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $294,856,000 after buying an additional 102,132 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,480,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $220,825,000 after purchasing an additional 21,876 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AXP. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $221.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 210,920 shares of company stock valued at $45,804,652. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock traded down $2.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $237.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,327,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,198,062. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $170.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $221.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $190.53. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that American Express will post 12.98 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.06%.

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.