CAP Partners LLC Acquires New Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

CAP Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 757 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC raised 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 worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.5% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its position in American Express by 3.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AXP. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $286.00 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $201.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1-year low of $161.73 and a 1-year high of $296.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $272.31 and a 200-day moving average of $251.34.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

American Express 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.