Prudential Financial Inc. Purchases 120,080 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 27.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 556,327 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 120,080 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $165,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. TAGStone Capital Inc. increased its holdings in American Express by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. TAGStone Capital Inc. now owns 9,464 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,809,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,401 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 122.0% during the 4th quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,860 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares during the period. Finally, Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $8,698,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Argus cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $303.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.1 %

AXP stock opened at $270.48 on Monday. American Express has a 1-year low of $214.51 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $190.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $288.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.41%.

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.