AIA Group Ltd Has $3.52 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,778 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,740 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AXP. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on American Express in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $235.00 target price on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $201.62.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $218.54. 2,493,039 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,055,516. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $219.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.58. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $231.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.98%.

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.