American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Holdings Increased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 150,854 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,281 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $44,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,104,735,000 after acquiring an additional 86,100 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in American Express by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,600,277,000 after purchasing an additional 95,927 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in American Express by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,249,415,000 after purchasing an additional 239,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,074,168,000 after purchasing an additional 33,193 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $273.13 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $305.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $288.17. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $214.51 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a market cap of $191.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point decreased their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

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.