AIA Group Ltd Has $3.52 Million Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,778 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,740 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express by 118,198.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,732,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,028,913,000 after acquiring an additional 13,720,460 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,503,902 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,847,452,000 after purchasing an additional 35,760 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $911,554,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in American Express by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,802,341 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $857,293,000 after purchasing an additional 405,975 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $221.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on American Express in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $235.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $201.62.

American Express Trading Up 0.4 %

AXP traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $218.54. The stock had a trading volume of 2,493,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,055,516. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $219.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $231.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.98%.

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.