American Express Company $AXP Shares Acquired by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 228,179 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,800 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in American Express were worth $72,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 13.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,849,777,000 after buying an additional 2,168,445 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 25.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,278,711,000 after buying an additional 965,221 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after buying an additional 605,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $126,119,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.5%

AXP opened at $331.93 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $320.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The company has a market cap of $230.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.29. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $349.19.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at $40,343,574.81. This represents a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on American Express and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $321.90.

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.