Jennison Associates LLC Has $4.74 Million Position in American Express Company $AXP

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 171.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,820 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,094 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 27.0% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,970,416 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,310,515,000 after purchasing an additional 845,283 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 23.9% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,787,580 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $925,449,000 after purchasing an additional 537,205 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $153,292,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 18.5% in the third quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,169,242 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $720,535,000 after purchasing an additional 337,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Credit Agricole S A acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $93,571,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AXP. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore set a $345.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday. Credit Suisse Group set a $328.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of American Express from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $357.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 15,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.58, for a total value of $5,348,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,189,608.10. The trade was a 62.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 27,425 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.01, for a total transaction of $9,599,024.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,394 shares in the company, valued at $7,138,103.94. The trade was a 57.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 73,944 shares of company stock valued at $26,114,366 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $319.74 on Friday. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $273.10 and a 12 month high of $387.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $311.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $344.28. The firm has a market cap of $218.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.08.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The payment services company reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.27. American Express had a net margin of 15.13% and a return on equity of 33.95%. The business had revenue of $14.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.60 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. American Express has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.300-17.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 17.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.71%.

About American Express

American Express is a global financial services company primarily known for its payment card products, travel services and merchant network. Founded in 1850 as an express mail business, the company evolved through the 20th century into a payments and travel-focused organization. Its core activities include issuing consumer and commercial charge and credit cards, operating a global card acceptance and processing network, and providing travel-related services and customer loyalty programs.

American Express issues a range of products for individuals, small businesses and large corporations, including personal cards, business and corporate cards, and co?brand partnerships with airlines, hotels and retailers.