Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 667,695 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 667,695 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.53% of American Express worth $713,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in American Express by 0.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of 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 grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 102,132 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in American Express by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,480,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $220,825,000 after acquiring an additional 21,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,540,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AXP. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total transaction of $27,267,303.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 110,318 shares in the company, valued at $25,642,315.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 327,933 shares of company stock valued at $73,199,843 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of AXP traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $234.62. 2,084,289 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,188,171. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $240.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $168.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $225.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

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.