Bell Asset Management Ltd Decreases Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bell Asset Management Ltd lowered its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,502 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,309 shares during the period. Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in American Express by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,484,312,000 after buying an additional 268,572 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in American Express by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,600,277,000 after acquiring an additional 95,927 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,785,867,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in American Express by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,434 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,151,080,000 after purchasing an additional 14,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.24.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $233.50 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market cap of $164.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.63. American Express has a 12-month low of $214.51 and a 12-month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

Insider Activity at American Express

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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, 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 link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.