Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. Invests $5.37 Million in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 18,089 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,369,000. American Express accounts for about 2.0% of Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after buying an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in American Express by 59,816.0% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after acquiring an additional 681,304 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express by 35,213.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after acquiring an additional 316,219 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 73.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $191,842,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point decreased their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price target on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Down 2.8 %

American Express stock opened at $295.23 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $307.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $284.27. American Express has a twelve month low of $212.48 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.24. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

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.