Johnson Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Johnson Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 78.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 153 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 544 shares during the quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $49,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 4,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,939 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,434,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Arkos Global Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $200,000. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,682,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $224,000. Hedge funds and other 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 analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $264.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $185.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $326.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $287.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

American Express Company 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.