Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Makes New $5.75 Million Investment in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired 21,354 shares of American Express valued at approximately $5.7 million during the first quarter, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• American Express announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, which will be paid on August 8th, alongside a current dividend yield of 1.06%.
• After reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, American Express's stock was recently rated with a mix of "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings from several brokerages, with an average target price of $311.05.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 21,354 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $5,745,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in American Express by 463.3% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,293,259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in American Express by 27,625.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $581,914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155,045 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in American Express by 186.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $886,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943,463 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in American Express by 346.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $600,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in American Express by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,025,632,000 after acquiring an additional 955,811 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $5.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $294.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,009,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,978,301. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $305.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.53. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $329.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. American Express's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. This trade represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 64,950 shares of company stock valued at $19,787,710. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, July 14th. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $311.05.

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.