Vivaldi Capital Management LP Has $274,000 Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Vivaldi Capital Management LP lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 866 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP’s holdings in American Express were worth $274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 268,572 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.1% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 95,927 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,025,632,000 after buying an additional 955,811 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,785,867,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 463.3% in 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 buying an additional 3,583,959 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $299.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $326.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $266.96 and its 200 day moving average is $288.43.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup cut their price target on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Compass Point cut their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research cut their price target on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $295.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.