Avanza Fonder AB Purchases Shares of 40,711 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 40,711 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $12,083,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $278.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $312.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,180,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,022,091. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $299.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $271.73. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $315.40. The firm has a market cap of $220.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

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.