Covenant Asset Management LLC Sells 200 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Covenant Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,261 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in American Express by 2.5% in the third quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in American Express by 10.5% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America increased their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $293.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $206.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52-week low of $162.85 and a 52-week high of $296.83. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $275.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $252.64. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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 $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.