Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Purchases 525 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 24.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,633 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 525 shares during the quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in American Express were worth $781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,810 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,692,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,264,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 15,471 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. GFG Capital LLC now owns 10,407 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its position in American Express by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 432,051 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $128,228,000 after purchasing an additional 12,678 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $311.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $306.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $281.60. American Express has a 1 year low of $209.10 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The company has a market capitalization of $219.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HSBC increased their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point lowered their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

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.