American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Sovereign Financial Group Inc.

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,608 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 32.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 276,026 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $63,914,000 after acquiring an additional 68,033 shares during the last quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at $201,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its holdings in American Express by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 138,359 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $32,037,000 after acquiring an additional 5,248 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in American Express by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 43,014 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $9,960,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $312.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $297.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $270.60. The stock has a market cap of $220.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $313.96.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

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.