Swedbank AB Buys 1,778 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Swedbank AB raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 410,457 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,778 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.06% of American Express worth $121,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Auxier Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its position in American Express by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 12,017 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,567,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of American Express stock traded up $0.78 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $317.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 167,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,621,466. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market cap of $223.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $303.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $276.27. American Express has a 52-week low of $199.88 and a 52-week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial initiated coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.50.

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.