Wulff Hansen & CO. Acquires New Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Wulff Hansen & CO. acquired a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 686 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in American Express by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.1% during 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 239,173 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.8% during 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 buying an additional 33,193 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC increased their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Argus cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $303.52.

American Express Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $262.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $184.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $300.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.