Korea Investment CORP Buys 44,852 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 6.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 693,036 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,852 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in American Express were worth $186,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,454,667,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its holdings in American Express by 463.3% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,293,259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,959 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 27,625.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $581,914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in American Express by 186.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $886,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943,463 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 346.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $600,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,747 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $305.36 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $212.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $329.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $307.22 and a 200-day moving average of $289.97.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price target on American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $311.05.

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.