Capital International Sarl Buys 1,289 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Capital International Sarl lifted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 54.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,673 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 1,289 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl's holdings in American Express were worth $1,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in American Express by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $3,484,312,000 after purchasing an additional 268,572 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,600,277,000 after buying an additional 95,927 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,785,867,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,434 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,151,080,000 after buying an additional 14,282 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in American Express by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $655,137,000 after acquiring an additional 247,864 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Baird R W raised American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com cut American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup cut their price objective on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $295.05.

American Express Stock Up 2.8 %

AXP traded up $7.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $267.44. 2,695,680 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,858,356. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $187.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The business's 50 day moving average is $269.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. This is an increase from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express 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 in the company, valued at $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. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.