BNP Paribas Grows Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

BNP Paribas boosted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 25.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 323 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. BNP Paribas’ holdings in American Express were worth $88,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth $453,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth $91,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth $96,943,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 52,317 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $11,908,000 after purchasing an additional 3,086 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $304.28 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $278.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.61. American Express has a 52 week low of $163.61 and a 52 week high of $307.82. The company has a market capitalization of $214.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on AXP shares. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

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.