American Express Company $AXP Shares Purchased by Covea Finance

Covea Finance boosted its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 57.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 87,300 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,700 shares during the quarter. Covea Finance’s holdings in American Express were worth $28,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter worth $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in American Express during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth about $39,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.73, for a total value of $1,753,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,726 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,739.98. This trade represents a 39.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Douglas Tabish sold 2,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.61, for a total value of $894,359.15. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $894,359.15. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 57,515 shares of company stock worth $20,658,509 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. DZ Bank upgraded American Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, HSBC set a $295.00 target price on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $335.55.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $382.75 on Friday. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $387.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $364.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $333.35.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The payment services company reported ($11.85) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.The business had revenue of ($17,139.00) million for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.01%.

American Express Company Profile

American Express is a global financial services company primarily known for its payment card products, travel services and merchant network. Founded in 1850 as an express mail business, the company evolved through the 20th century into a payments and travel-focused organization. Its core activities include issuing consumer and commercial charge and credit cards, operating a global card acceptance and processing network, and providing travel-related services and customer loyalty programs.

American Express issues a range of products for individuals, small businesses and large corporations, including personal cards, business and corporate cards, and co?brand partnerships with airlines, hotels and retailers.