Principal Securities Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,524 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,753 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $311.37 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. American Express has a 1 year low of $209.10 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The firm has a market cap of $218.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $306.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $282.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AXP. TD Cowen increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

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.