American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Achmea Investment Management B.V.

Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 18.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 140,081 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,605 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V.'s holdings in American Express were worth $37,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $103,858,000 after buying an additional 12,364 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 26,102 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $7,747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Griffith & Werner Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,311,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 50,009 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $14,842,000 after buying an additional 4,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in American Express by 13.4% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,334 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,973,000 after buying an additional 869 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $311.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $326.28. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $287.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.94. The firm has a market cap of $218.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Baird R W upgraded American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $296.05.

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.

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