Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Has $26.59 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,268 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in American Express were worth $26,589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $996,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Auxier Asset Management increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its stake in American Express by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 1,716 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup increased their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. HSBC boosted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE AXP opened at $320.26 on Thursday. American Express has a one year low of $204.00 and a one year high of $326.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $305.41 and its 200-day moving average is $278.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.