BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Takes $10.48 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 35,312 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,480,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $251.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $176.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $272.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.71. American Express has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. American Express’s payout ratio is 22.91%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $294.90.

About American Express

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.