BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Boosts Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 13.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 588,748 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 69,360 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.08% of American Express worth $159,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in American Express by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,923,399,000 after purchasing an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of American Express by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $485,525,000 after buying an additional 387,166 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,682,959 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $456,418,000 after acquiring an additional 7,676 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 3.5% during the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,629,480 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $441,915,000 after buying an additional 54,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,270,814 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $343,437,000 after acquiring an additional 27,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $287.65 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.35. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $161.73 and a fifty-two week high of $296.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $202.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several analyst reports. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen raised their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $253.09.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.