New York Life Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

New York Life Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 90,753 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 302 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $17,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth about $210,540,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 1,313.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,440,210,000 after purchasing an additional 714,370 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth about $73,906,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 636.7% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 442,307 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $65,988,000 after buying an additional 382,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 417.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $77,876,000 after buying an additional 335,338 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AXP opened at $233.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.49. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $240.55. The stock has a market cap of $168.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. DZ Bank lowered American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. HSBC raised their price target on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of American Express 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.