Valley National Advisers Inc. Cuts Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Valley National Advisers Inc. lowered its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 24.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,100 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 347 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $433,709,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after purchasing an additional 906,353 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in American Express by 924.2% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after buying an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in American Express by 59,816.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after buying an additional 681,304 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in American Express by 8.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Compass Point started coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

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 dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $267.35 on Monday. American Express has a 12-month low of $141.02 and a 12-month high of $286.36. The firm has a market cap of $192.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average is $263.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $245.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

About American Express

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.