Calamos Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Calamos Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 202,571 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,415 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $54,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in shares of American Express by 463.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 27,625.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $581,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of American Express by 186.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $886,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 346.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $600,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,747 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.8%

American Express stock opened at $328.36 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $294.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.25. 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 Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $329.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.25.

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.