ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $51.90 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 174,862 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,572 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up approximately 2.1% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $51,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,104,735,000 after acquiring an additional 86,100 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in American Express by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,249,415,000 after purchasing an additional 239,173 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,074,168,000 after purchasing an additional 33,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $655,137,000 after buying an additional 247,864 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.09.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $312.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $299.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $272.24. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $315.40.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

American Express 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.