Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Has $625,000 Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC cut its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,306 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 247 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $625,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas bought 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 during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Founders Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $271.60 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. American Express has a 12-month low of $141.73 and a 12-month high of $286.36. The company has a market capitalization of $195.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $264.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $246.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.