American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 35.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,739 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,581 shares during the quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in American Express by 2.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 268,572 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in American Express by 1.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 95,927 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,785,867,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,434 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,151,080,000 after purchasing an additional 14,282 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXP. Argus lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.24.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $233.50 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $288.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.44. American Express has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.41%.

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.