ING Groep NV Has $4.74 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

ING Groep NV decreased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 56.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,458 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 22,227 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in American Express were worth $4,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. raised its position in American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the second quarter worth $42,000. Founders Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $253.09.

American Express Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded down $1.43 during trading on Friday, hitting $286.87. 2,614,568 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,906,965. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $272.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $251.09. American Express has a 52 week low of $157.97 and a 52 week high of $296.83. The company has a market cap of $202.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21.

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 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 firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.