Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 28,371 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 653,012 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 28,371 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.09% of American Express worth $177,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock traded up $5.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $298.65. The company had a trading volume of 6,205,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,874,237. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $307.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $288.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $261.29. 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 company has a market capitalization of $210.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC cut shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $263.68.

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.