Natixis Advisors L.P. Acquires 91,685 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 752,313 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 91,685 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned about 0.10% of American Express worth $140,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its position in shares of American Express by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:AXP traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $232.36. 1,364,283 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,195,073. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $240.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $223.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

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

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.71.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 203,891 shares of company stock worth $44,373,196 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.