Prudential Financial Inc. Has $165.11 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 27.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 556,327 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,080 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.08% of American Express worth $165,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth $38,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express 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 value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE AXP opened at $270.48 on Monday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $214.51 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $298.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $288.81. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $190.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

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.