Erste Asset Management GmbH Takes $7.41 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 27,330 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,408,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 42.2% during the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $304.68 on Monday. 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’s 50-day moving average is $280.04 and its 200-day moving average is $255.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1 year low of $165.93 and a 1 year high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced 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 return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. American Express’s payout ratio is 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.