72,637 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Acquired by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 72,637 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,698,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AXP. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 823.5% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 628 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $459,000. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $213,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 26.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 39,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,992,000 after buying an additional 8,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in American Express by 51.5% in the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 8,881 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,022,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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. Bank of America upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $285.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $273.01 and its 200-day moving average is $251.72. The stock has a market cap of $201.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52-week low of $161.73 and a 52-week high of $296.83.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

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.