American Express Company $AXP Shares Bought by OFI Invest Asset Management

OFI Invest Asset Management increased its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 298.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 176,248 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 132,009 shares during the quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management’s holdings in American Express were worth $56,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 2.5%

NYSE:AXP opened at $316.27 on Friday. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $349.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $322.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $300.17.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the transaction, the insider owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. The trade was a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $18,360,145.87. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,677,527.47. This represents a 87.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. DZ Bank lowered American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded American Express from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $323.60.

American Express Company 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.