American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,630 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 42.2% during the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were 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. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $302.21 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $280.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.61. 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 has a 52 week low of $165.93 and a 52 week high of $307.82. The firm has a market cap of $212.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.