GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Trims Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA reduced its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,069 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 582 shares during the quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in American Express by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,923,399,000 after purchasing an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of American Express by 22.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $485,525,000 after buying an additional 387,166 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,682,959 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $456,418,000 after buying an additional 7,676 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its position in shares of American Express by 2.2% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,270,814 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $343,437,000 after acquiring an additional 27,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in American Express by 2.0% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,220,422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $282,589,000 after acquiring an additional 23,487 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays increased their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

AXP opened at $285.54 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $273.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.72. The company has a market capitalization of $201.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52 week low of $161.73 and a 52 week high of $296.83.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’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 transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% 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.