Accredited Investors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Accredited Investors Inc. increased its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 23.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,526 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 873 shares during the quarter. Accredited Investors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $221,000. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth about $325,000. Coastline Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.3% during the third quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 27,080 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $7,344,000 after buying an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,878 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,221,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in American Express by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $286.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52 week low of $157.97 and a 52 week high of $296.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $272.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $251.20. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on AXP. Bank of America lifted their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. 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 research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

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.