West Family Investments Inc. Has $500,000 Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

West Family Investments Inc. grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in American Express by 2.7% in the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.5% in the third quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in American Express by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its stake in American Express by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $280.34 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $273.01 and its 200 day moving average is $251.72. American Express has a 12-month low of $161.73 and a 12-month high of $296.83. The stock has a market cap of $197.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

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.