Bridgewater Associates LP Reduces Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bridgewater Associates LP cut its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 93.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,805 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 52,671 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.6% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 1,716 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BTIG Research lifted their target price on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Baird R W upgraded shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $294.90.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $251.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a 1-year low of $218.84 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $272.87 and a 200-day moving average of $287.59. The company has a market capitalization of $176.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a PEG 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. Equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.