BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Has $159.67 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 588,748 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,360 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in American Express were worth $159,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. XML Financial LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 119.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after acquiring an additional 21,508 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its position in American Express by 2,196.4% during the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 7,885 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Express by 41.3% in the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in American Express by 219.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 164,861 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $37,537,000 after purchasing an additional 113,249 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $287.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $202.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $161.73 and a 1-year high of $296.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $274.48 and a 200-day moving average of $252.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value 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 approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.