Penserra Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Penserra Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 70,163 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 7,038 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $19,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in American Express by 10.8% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 59,207 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $13,481,000 after buying an additional 5,764 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Express by 39.8% in the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,444 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its position in American Express by 3.0% in the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 16,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,673,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in American Express by 1.6% in the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 5,895 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lavaca Capital LLC boosted its position in American Express by 2.7% in the first quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 5,471 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 2.8 %

NYSE AXP opened at $301.30 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $276.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.23. American Express has a one year low of $163.32 and a one year high of $301.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $212.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXP. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. 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 report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insider Activity 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 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, 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. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About American Express

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.