American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by HM Payson & Co.

HM Payson & Co. cut its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,314 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 530 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $22,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its stake in American Express by 0.7% during the third quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 15,925 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,128,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 7.9% in the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $216,000. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,524 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $956,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of American Express by 4.3% in the third quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 48,536 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $13,163,000 after buying an additional 1,999 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays upped their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America increased their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Compass Point began 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 given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $273.54. 83,670 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,907,427. American Express has a 1-year low of $143.07 and a 1-year high of $286.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $265.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $246.71.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued 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. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.