Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Has $38.74 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 10.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 143,167 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,428 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $38,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $270.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 838,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,922,066. The business has a fifty day moving average of $263.16 and a 200-day moving average of $244.92. American Express has a 52 week low of $141.02 and a 52 week high of $286.36. The company has a market cap of $194.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

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.