Zions Bancorporation National Association UT Buys Shares of 1,943 American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,943 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $523,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in American Express by 463.3% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 3,583,959 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in American Express by 27,625.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $581,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of American Express by 186.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,943,463 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 346.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,568,747 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,278,711,000 after acquiring an additional 965,221 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $311.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total transaction of $5,011,520.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,653,764.83. The trade was a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $297.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $329.14. The company has a market capitalization of $206.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $306.59 and its 200-day moving average is $290.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.02%.

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.