Bessemer Group Inc. Has $12.42 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 41,828 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 961 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $12,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,266 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 6.7% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 13,794 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after buying an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 22.1% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,326 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,296,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 8,031 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,178,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $246.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $280.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.37. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $214.51 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Bank of America reduced their target price on American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Argus lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.24.

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.