American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Summit Investment Advisors Inc.

Summit Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,422 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 267 shares during the quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in American Express by 2.3% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 268,572 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $2,600,277,000 after buying an additional 95,927 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,785,867,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in American Express by 0.4% during 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, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in American Express by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of AXP opened at $257.87 on Wednesday. American Express has a 52-week low of $216.51 and a 52-week high of $326.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.09. The company has a market capitalization of $181.16 billion, a PE ratio of 18.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AXP. Argus cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $244.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.