Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 252,967 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,120 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $68,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $183,037,000 after purchasing an additional 35,295 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $45,243,000 after buying an additional 2,259 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in American Express by 6.4% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,088,000 after acquiring an additional 5,693 shares during the last quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 368.7% during the 1st quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.9% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 95,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,679,000 after acquiring an additional 7,822 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price objective on American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.25.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded up $3.50 on Wednesday, reaching $320.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 97,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,831,753. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $329.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $224.52 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $297.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.19.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.91%.

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.