Haverford Trust Co Trims Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Haverford Trust Co reduced its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,547 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 116 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in American Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC increased its stake in American Express by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in American Express by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,404,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $287.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $202.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $270.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1-year low of $156.03 and a 1-year high of $296.83.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company 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 business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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