Artemis Investment Management LLP Buys 6,450 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 29.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,155 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,450 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP's holdings in American Express were worth $8,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Auxier Asset Management raised its stake in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,934,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 3.6% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in American Express by 0.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 109,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last 90 days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.4 %

American Express stock traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $312.75. 2,180,554 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,022,091. American Express has a 52 week low of $177.81 and a 52 week high of $315.40. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $299.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $272.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Compass Point increased their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $278.09.

American Express 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.