Myriad Asset Management US LP Purchases Shares of 5,626 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,626 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $1,670,000. American Express makes up about 1.1% of Myriad Asset Management US LP's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its holdings in American Express by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 4,995 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,482,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,810 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $4,692,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,264,000 after buying an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kanawha Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 15,471 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business'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 transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock traded down $2.95 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $309.90. 2,147,517 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,445,843. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $307.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $283.46. American Express has a 12 month low of $209.10 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. HSBC raised their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $296.38.

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.