Flossbach Von Storch AG Buys 1,339 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 209,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares during the quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG’s holdings in American Express were worth $39,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Express by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its position in American Express by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 4,894 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its position in American Express by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in American Express by 1.2% in the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,566 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC boosted its position in American Express by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. HSBC upped their price target on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 price objective (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on American Express in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $235.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $201.62.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $217.62. The stock had a trading volume of 2,256,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,064,562. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $231.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $219.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.58.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.98%.

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.