2Xideas AG Has $13.77 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

2Xideas AG boosted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 39.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,173 shares during the period. American Express comprises 1.8% of 2Xideas AG’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. 2Xideas AG’s holdings in American Express were worth $13,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $233.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $288.96 and a 200 day moving average of $289.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The company has a market capitalization of $164.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.24.

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.