Swedbank AB Raises Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Swedbank AB grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 408,679 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 5,827 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.06% of American Express worth $110,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. lifted its stake in American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management purchased a new stake in American Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a 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 value of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AXP. Barclays lifted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE AXP opened at $301.30 on Monday. American Express has a 12 month low of $163.32 and a 12 month high of $301.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $276.08 and its two-hundred day 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 (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

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.