Venture Visionary Partners LLC Sells 580 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Venture Visionary Partners LLC decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,251 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 580 shares during the quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the first 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 during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after buying an additional 195,876 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in American Express by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after buying an additional 387,166 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in American Express by 14.2% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,798,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $408,494,000 after purchasing an additional 224,079 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AXP. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of 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 lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Compass Point started coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $244.58.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock traded down $6.05 during trading on Monday, reaching $270.74. The company had a trading volume of 3,904,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,935,121. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $286.36. The company has a market cap of $194.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $244.02.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued 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 return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

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.