American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Vinva Investment Management Ltd

Vinva Investment Management Ltd decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,360 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 326 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in American Express by 26,783.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after purchasing an additional 906,353 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in American Express by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in American Express by 924.2% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in American Express by 59,816.0% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in American Express by 71.9% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $269,547,000 after purchasing an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $304.25 on Friday. American Express has a one year low of $163.61 and a one year high of $307.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The business has a fifty day moving average of $279.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $254.96. The company has a market cap of $214.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

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.