Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Acquires New Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,776 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $295.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $207.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $307.38 and a 200 day moving average of $285.47. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $213.25 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

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.