American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 327,864 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,676 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in American Express were worth $97,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup boosted their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $296.38.

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American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $273.13 on Monday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $305.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $288.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $191.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1 year low of $214.51 and a 1 year high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. American Express's payout ratio is 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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