Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 7.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 79,497 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,245 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in American Express were worth $21,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Kathmere Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $242,000. Vicus Capital acquired a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth $299,000. CRA Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth $232,000. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $762,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:AXP traded down $2.63 on Friday, reaching $267.35. 2,993,298 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,933,059. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day moving average of $263.88 and a 200-day moving average of $245.77. American Express has a 52-week low of $141.02 and a 52-week high of $286.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. HSBC cut 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 note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.