American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by American Trust

American Trust lowered its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 32.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,732 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,311 shares during the period. American Trust’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth about $42,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $300.29 on Friday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $170.15 and a fifty-two week high of $307.82. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $285.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $259.21. The company has a market cap of $211.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $259.45.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.