Vise Technologies Inc. Boosts Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 41.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,880 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,669 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $996,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 1,716 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in shares of American Express by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 1,424 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Compass Point decreased their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $287.09 on Friday. American Express has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $326.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $268.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

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.