American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Mediolanum International Funds Ltd

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 149,291 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,124 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $44,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Express by 430.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its stake in shares of American Express by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of American Express by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after acquiring an additional 247,864 shares during the period. Finally, Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $298,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $294.95.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $318.84 on Friday. American Express has a 52 week low of $199.88 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $224.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $304.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $276.54.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

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.