Triglav Skladi D.O.O. Buys New Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Triglav Skladi D.O.O. bought a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 27,500 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $8,162,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake 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 worth $1,293,259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,959 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake 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 worth $886,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943,463 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake 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 worth $600,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,747 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in American Express by 36,719.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $300,289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,042 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $295.05.

American Express Stock Down 3.5%

AXP stock traded down $10.26 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $285.91. The stock had a trading volume of 3,444,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,851,846. American Express has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market capitalization of $200.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $268.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.46.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Insider Activity at American Express

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 value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.