Smith & Howard Wealth Management LLC Takes $233,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Smith & Howard Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 861 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Burford Brothers Inc. increased its stake in American Express by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 3,676 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $997,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $303,000. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 17.2% in the third quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,034 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $823,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its position in American Express by 10.4% in the third quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 143,167 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,743,000 after purchasing an additional 13,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Network Inc. raised its stake in American Express by 2.4% during the third quarter. Financial Management Network Inc. now owns 3,239 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Compass Point started coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $267.23 on Friday. American Express has a 52-week low of $141.02 and a 52-week high of $286.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $263.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

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.