American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Centaurus Financial Inc.

Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,318 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $358,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 4.7% in the third quarter. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. now owns 2,787 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in American Express by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,620 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $982,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $232,000. Swedbank AB boosted its position in American Express by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 408,679 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $110,834,000 after acquiring an additional 5,827 shares during the period. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 1.4% in the third quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC now owns 7,665 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $305.60 on Wednesday. American Express has a 12 month low of $163.32 and a 12 month high of $306.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $215.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $277.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $254.26.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

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.