Meeder Asset Management Inc. Grows Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1,240.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,270 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,788 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $9,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. lifted its stake in American Express by 42.2% in the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the second quarter worth $42,000. Founders Capital Management purchased a new stake in American Express in the second quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $285.54 on Tuesday. American Express has a one year low of $161.73 and a one year high of $296.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $273.01 and a 200 day moving average of $251.72. The company has a market capitalization of $201.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. 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 0.98%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXP. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Company 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.