American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,708,579 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 3,100 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.24% of American Express worth $463,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in American Express by 8.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 387,166 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,682,959 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $456,418,000 after purchasing an additional 7,676 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc grew its position in shares of American Express by 2.2% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,270,814 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $343,437,000 after purchasing an additional 27,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 2.0% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,220,422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $282,589,000 after purchasing an additional 23,487 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $286.87 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $272.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $251.20. American Express has a 52 week low of $157.97 and a 52 week high of $296.83. 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 company has a market cap of $202.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related 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 transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were 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. The trade was 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 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.