D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 2,143 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,859 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,143 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $305.60 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $277.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $254.26. American Express has a 12-month low of $163.32 and a 12-month high of $306.97.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.