Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Acquires Shares of 2,776 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,776 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $317.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $223.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $302.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.72. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $199.07 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, HSBC boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.