American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 176,889 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,769 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in American Express were worth $33,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. CWM LLC raised its stake in American Express by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,103 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $3,579,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $3,275,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd grew its position in American Express by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 3,388 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in American Express by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,643 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,369,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $221.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $208.24.

American Express Price Performance

AXP traded up $1.84 on Monday, hitting $232.88. 5,150,570 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,161,080. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $235.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market cap of $168.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $220.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.56.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.39%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. American Express's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.92 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express's payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 in the last quarter. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express 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.