Verity & Verity LLC Increases Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Verity & Verity LLC grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 409.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,549 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,675 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 5,063.5% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,690,194 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $372,915,000 after buying an additional 2,638,094 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of American Express by 79.6% in the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,713,458 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $366,073,000 after buying an additional 1,202,912 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in shares of American Express by 16.4% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,807,168 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $666,377,000 after buying an additional 675,971 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.5% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 44,553,661 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,010,732,000 after buying an additional 665,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 42.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,110,826 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $284,769,000 after buying an additional 629,960 shares in the last quarter. 83.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 5,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.52, for a total transaction of $952,181.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,229,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 5,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.52, for a total transaction of $952,181.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,229,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 15,217 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.18, for a total value of $2,635,280.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,374,644.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,361 shares of company stock worth $8,773,678 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $156.52 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $168.04 and its 200 day moving average is $155.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market cap of $116.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a 52-week low of $130.65 and a 52-week high of $194.35.

American Express (NYSE:AXP – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 27th. The payment services company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.25 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 14.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.18 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 11.25 EPS for the current year.

American Express announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 8th that allows the company to buyback 120,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the payment services company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 5th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded American Express from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $186.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on American Express from $170.00 to $166.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. UBS Group began coverage on American Express in a research report on Monday, November 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Redburn Partners began coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, November 29th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.44.

American Express Company Profile

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American Express Co engages in the provision of charge and credit card products and travel-related services. It operates through the following segments: U.S Consumer Services (USCS), Commercial Services (CS), International Card Services (ICS), Global Merchant and Network Services (GMNS), and Corporate and Other.