KBC Group NV Decreases Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

KBC Group NV decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 630,353 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 33,937 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up 0.5% of KBC Group NV’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. KBC Group NV owned 0.09% of American Express worth $187,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Down 1.5 %

AXP stock opened at $320.87 on Monday. American Express has a 12 month low of $186.43 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $302.35 and its 200 day moving average is $274.92. The company has a market capitalization of $226.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.00.

American Express 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.