Convergence Investment Partners LLC Takes $246,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,316 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after buying an additional 41,443 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $533,018,000 after buying an additional 67,575 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,045 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $268,549,000 after buying an additional 102,977 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of American Express by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,663 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $294,856,000 after buying an additional 102,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,480,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $220,825,000 after buying an additional 21,876 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 210,920 shares of company stock worth $45,804,652 in the last ninety days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $235.64 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $222.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $192.02. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, HSBC boosted their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.52.

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.