PGGM Investments Purchases 1,806 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

PGGM Investments lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,647 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,806 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in American Express were worth $6,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after buying an additional 41,443 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $533,018,000 after buying an additional 67,575 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,045 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $268,549,000 after buying an additional 102,977 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in American Express by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,663 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $294,856,000 after buying an additional 102,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,480,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $220,825,000 after buying an additional 21,876 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday. DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 210,920 shares of company stock valued at $45,804,652. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded down $1.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $235.64. The stock had a trading volume of 2,993,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,154,841. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $222.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.74. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $240.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

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.