American Express (NYSE:AXP) Holdings Lifted by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,704 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 430.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC grew its position in American Express by 9.8% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,012 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $177,097,000 after acquiring an additional 28,371 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $2.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $300.20. 434,171 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,172,638. American Express has a twelve month low of $177.81 and a twelve month high of $307.82. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $293.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $266.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $211.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $268.95.

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.