American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Puzo Michael J

Puzo Michael J grew its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 123.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,903 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,603 shares during the period. Puzo Michael J’s holdings in American Express were worth $781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in shares of American Express by 463.3% during 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in American Express by 27,625.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $581,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in American Express by 186.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $886,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 346.2% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $600,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,747 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Argus lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.05.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $292.70 on Wednesday. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $280.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.78. 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 $205.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. 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 company earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.