Woodline Partners LP Makes New Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 33,421 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,919,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AXP. Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 10,702 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,177,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares during the period. WBI Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 52.3% in the fourth quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,949,000 after purchasing an additional 2,256 shares during the period. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $8,162,000. Texas Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,132,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 275.4% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 166,648 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $49,459,000 after buying an additional 122,258 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of American Express from $340.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $295.05.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $287.09 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $268.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $201.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express 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 transaction, the insider now owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% 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.