Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Acquires 5,476 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,476 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $17,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Old Port Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the second quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in American Express by 27.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,395 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in American Express by 15.4% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 71,181 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $17,792,000 after acquiring an additional 9,483 shares during the period. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the second quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. lifted its stake in American Express by 1.8% in the second quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 4,900 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.7 %

American Express stock opened at $300.29 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.21. The company has a market cap of $211.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52-week low of $170.15 and a 52-week high of $307.82. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised 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. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $259.45.

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.