Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec Buys 77,214 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its holdings in American Express by 59.8%, acquiring an additional 77,214 shares during the 1st quarter, bringing its total to 206,426 shares valued at $55.57 million.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for American Express, with Deutsche Bank setting a new target of $375.00 and a "buy" rating, while the consensus target price stands at $311.05.
• American Express recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, yielding approximately 1.0%, with a payout ratio of 23.02%.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 59.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 206,426 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 77,214 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in American Express were worth $55,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,395 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $7,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,754 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $218,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 8,588 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,311,000 after buying an additional 828 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,970,014 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $530,032,000 after buying an additional 410,749 shares during the period. Finally, Beck Mack & Oliver LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 1.6% during the first quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 401,858 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $108,120,000 after purchasing an additional 6,165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. The trade was a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,677,527.47. This trade represents a 87.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 157,724 shares of company stock worth $48,227,228. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock traded down $4.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $326.37. 2,971,185 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,244,027. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $332.46. The company has a market capitalization of $227.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $313.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $291.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released 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 the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $313.45.

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.