Banco Santander S.A. Has $841,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Banco Santander S.A. lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 96.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,834 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 67,667 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in American Express were worth $841,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth $48,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,648 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,146,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 67,025 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $18,177,000 after acquiring an additional 4,180 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,833 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $768,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $273.13 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $305.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.17. The stock has a market cap of $191.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52-week low of $214.51 and a 52-week high of $326.27. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point cut their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Company 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.