American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 408,679 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,827 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in American Express were worth $110,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after purchasing an additional 906,353 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 924.2% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 59,816.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after buying an additional 681,304 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in American Express by 71.9% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $269,547,000 after buying an additional 486,755 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in American Express by 22.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $485,525,000 after buying an additional 387,166 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $301.30 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1-year low of $163.32 and a 1-year high of $301.92. The firm has a market cap of $212.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

About American Express

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.