Deutsche Bank AG Grows Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 25.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,698,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 555,562 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 0.38% of American Express worth $800,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in American Express by 463.3% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,293,259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,959 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 212.7% during the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 197 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 26,641 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $7,907,000 after purchasing an additional 5,253 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advantage Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $880,000. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $8,904,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Argus cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $295.05.

American Express Stock Up 0.3 %

AXP opened at $276.26 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $263.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $286.82. 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 fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio 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.