Baron Wealth Management LLC Invests $212,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Baron Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 783 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after purchasing an additional 906,353 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in American Express by 924.2% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after buying an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in American Express by 59,816.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after buying an additional 681,304 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in American Express by 8.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 71.9% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $269,547,000 after acquiring an additional 486,755 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on AXP shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $285.54 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market cap of $201.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $273.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $252.10. American Express has a 12-month low of $161.73 and a 12-month high of $296.83.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

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.