Raiffeisen Bank International AG Makes New $49.27 Million Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 165,693 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,266,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Polar Capital Holdings Plc grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 198.9% during the fourth quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 92,177 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $27,357,000 after buying an additional 61,334 shares in the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $17,674,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 267,445 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $79,375,000 after purchasing an additional 60,066 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in American Express by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 56,156 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $16,667,000 after buying an additional 19,745 shares during the period. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $2,438,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $295.05.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $300.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day moving average is $264.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. American Express has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

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.