Forsta AP Fonden Grows Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 169,800 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 12,700 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in American Express were worth $46,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in American Express by 8.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after acquiring an additional 195,876 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 22.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares during the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth about $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,798,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $408,494,000 after purchasing an additional 224,079 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock traded down $2.63 on Friday, reaching $267.35. The company had a trading volume of 2,993,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,933,059. American Express has a 1 year low of $141.02 and a 1 year high of $286.36. The company has a market cap of $192.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average is $263.88 and its 200 day moving average is $245.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given 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 currently 23.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Company 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.