TD Asset Management Inc. Sells 42,601 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

TD Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,299,819 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 42,601 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $682,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Up 2.8 %

American Express stock opened at $277.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $297.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $288.99. 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 52-week low of $214.51 and a 52-week high of $326.28. The firm has a market cap of $195.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given 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 is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AXP. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This represents a ? increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently 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.