Bank OZK Makes New Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bank OZK acquired a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,610 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,037,387,000 after buying an additional 41,443 shares during the period. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $533,018,000 after buying an additional 67,575 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake 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 worth $268,549,000 after buying an additional 102,977 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised 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 worth $294,856,000 after buying an additional 102,132 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $220,825,000 after buying an additional 21,876 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 210,920 shares of company stock worth $45,804,652. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. HSBC increased their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Stephens raised American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.52.

American Express Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $235.64. 2,993,335 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,154,841. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.62. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $240.55. The company’s 50-day moving average is $222.57 and its 200-day moving average is $191.45.

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

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend 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.