Bridgewater Associates LP Raises Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1,176.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,476 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,050 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in American Express were worth $15,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth about $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. grew its holdings in American Express by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $304.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $278.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1 year low of $163.61 and a 1 year high of $307.82.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.