BNP Paribas Buys 65 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

BNP Paribas grew its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 25.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 323 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 65 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in American Express were worth $88,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after buying an additional 906,353 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after buying an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in shares of American Express by 924.2% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $197,149,000 after buying an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after buying an additional 681,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of American Express by 71.9% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $269,547,000 after buying an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related 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 value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, 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. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $304.28 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a twelve month low of $163.61 and a twelve month high of $307.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $278.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $254.61. The firm has a market cap of $214.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.