Palisade Asset Management LLC Cuts Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Palisade Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,998 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $713,202,000 after buying an additional 667,695 shares during the period. Northern Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in American Express by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 9,138 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,712,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in American Express by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 4,279 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $802,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,205 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,474,000 after buying an additional 6,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln National Corp boosted its stake in American Express by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 13,317 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,495,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total transaction of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,602,896.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total value of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,602,896.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total transaction of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 110,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 327,933 shares of company stock valued at $73,199,843 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.71.

American Express Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE AXP traded up $1.58 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $236.24. 2,489,122 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,167,598. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $240.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $225.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.14. 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 company has a market capitalization of $169.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

About American Express

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.