ING Groep NV Decreases Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

ING Groep NV reduced its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 56.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,458 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 22,227 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 15.9% during the third quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 9,852 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 3,134 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $850,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,055 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,642,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in American Express by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 15,992 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,337,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 2.8% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 28,336 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,685,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

American Express stock opened at $286.80 on Friday. American Express has a 52-week low of $157.97 and a 52-week high of $296.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $271.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.75.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

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.