Savvy Advisors Inc. Raises Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Savvy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 38.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,865 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 119.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after acquiring an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its position in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 49.0% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 279,106 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $63,550,000 after buying an additional 91,760 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in American Express by 33.1% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 54,318 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $12,368,000 after acquiring an additional 13,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 41.3% in the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $288.60 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $269.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $249.86. American Express has a 52-week low of $153.50 and a 52-week high of $296.83. 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 company has a market capitalization of $203.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 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 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research 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, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’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 $29,724,067.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by 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.