American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by Smead Capital Management Inc.

Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,629,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 54,958 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up approximately 6.3% of Smead Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Smead Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $441,915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in American Express by 823.5% in the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 628 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. acquired a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $459,000. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in American Express by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 39,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,992,000 after acquiring an additional 8,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 51.5% in the 1st quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 8,881 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,022,000 after acquiring an additional 3,020 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Bank of America increased their price objective on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $285.54 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $273.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $251.72. The company has a market cap of $201.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a twelve month low of $161.73 and a twelve month high of $296.83.

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. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 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.