Freedom Together Foundation Cuts Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Freedom Together Foundation lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 79.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,851 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 35,000 shares during the period. American Express accounts for 0.3% of Freedom Together Foundation’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Freedom Together Foundation’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,484,312,000 after acquiring an additional 268,572 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,025,632,000 after purchasing an additional 955,811 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,785,867,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in shares of American Express by 463.3% in 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 worth $1,293,259,000 after buying an additional 3,583,959 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $284.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $199.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $326.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $263.18 and a 200 day moving average of $286.99.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced 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 return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. BTIG Research lowered their price target on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. HSBC lifted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point decreased their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.05.

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.