Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 281 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,291 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. grew its stake 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $285.54 on Tuesday. 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 has a 12-month low of $161.73 and a 12-month high of $296.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $273.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $251.72. The firm has a market cap of $201.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its 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. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.