Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Has $2.01 Million Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,675 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,923,399,000 after acquiring an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of American Express by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $909,575,000 after acquiring an additional 496,153 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $713,202,000 after acquiring an additional 667,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of American Express by 8.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,940,000 after acquiring an additional 195,876 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 equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total value of $3,578,087.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,957,361.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded down $6.50 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $225.78. 4,888,920 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,045,613. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $236.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $226.47. The firm has a market cap of $162.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $256.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 13.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

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.