Fisher Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Fisher Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,665,409 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 230,505 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.23% of American Express worth $2,350,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 5.2% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 147,573 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $40,022,000 after purchasing an additional 7,258 shares in the last quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its position in American Express by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 73,704 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $19,989,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its position in American Express by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 9,415 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 3,197 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 11,906 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AXP. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $301.30 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $212.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $276.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $253.35. American Express has a 12 month low of $163.32 and a 12 month high of $301.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm 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 company earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

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.