American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 410,457 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,778 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned 0.06% of American Express worth $121,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Compass Point reduced their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $294.95.

American Express Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of AXP traded up $3.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $318.84. 2,517,100 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,723,830. 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's 50 day moving average is $304.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $276.54. The company has a market capitalization of $224.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52 week low of $199.88 and a 52 week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.99%.

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.