American Express (NYSE:AXP) Position Decreased by Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.

Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. lowered its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,449,478 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,114 shares during the period. American Express makes up approximately 2.3% of Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s holdings in American Express were worth $430,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its stake in American Express by 10.6% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 6,776 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,838,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of American Express by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 148,832 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $40,363,000 after acquiring an additional 4,070 shares in the last quarter. Auxier Asset Management lifted its stake in American Express by 0.5% during the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in American Express by 13.5% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 534,851 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $145,052,000 after purchasing an additional 63,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in American Express by 493.9% in the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 7,382 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 6,139 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.57.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $265.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $186.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $295.02 and a 200-day moving average of $289.13. American Express has a 12-month low of $214.51 and a 12-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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.