American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Parthenon LLC

Parthenon LLC grew its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 68,840 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. American Express comprises approximately 2.2% of Parthenon LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $18,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. grew its position in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of AXP traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $289.10. The company had a trading volume of 409,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,900,197. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $270.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1 year low of $156.03 and a 1 year high of $296.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Four research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

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.