Ossiam Sells 4,469 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Ossiam lowered its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 23.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,426 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 4,469 shares during the period. Ossiam’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,484,312,000 after acquiring an additional 268,572 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in American Express by 1.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 95,927 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $1,785,867,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,434 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,151,080,000 after buying an additional 14,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in American Express by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,704,271 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,099,391,000 after buying an additional 74,977 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $251.48 on Friday. American Express has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $326.28. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $272.87 and its 200 day moving average is $287.71. The stock has a market cap of $176.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 22.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. As part of a broader Q1 preview for Consumer Finance, RBC anticipates seasonally-driven trends with lower loans and volumes, stable credit performance, and possibly elevated loan loss provisions due to uncertainty. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $343.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $294.90.

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.