American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 20.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 231,915 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 58,949 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $62,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in American Express by 463.3% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,293,259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,959 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 27,625.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $581,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 186.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $886,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,463 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 346.2% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $600,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,747 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in American Express by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,025,632,000 after buying an additional 955,811 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. DZ Bank cut shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 target price on American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $311.05.

American Express Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $308.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $305.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $291.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $329.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.