Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,595 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. lifted its holdings in American Express by 42.2% during the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the second quarter worth $42,000. Founders Capital Management purchased a new stake in American Express during the second quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $286.80 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $272.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.09. The company has a market capitalization of $202.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21. 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 fifty-two week low of $157.97 and a fifty-two week high of $296.83.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.