Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 248,359 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC cut its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 453,126 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 248,359 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $119,959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. increased its position in shares of American Express by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays raised their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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 American Express 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 owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.7 %

AXP opened at $300.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $211.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $282.83 and a 200-day moving average of $257.08. American Express has a 52 week low of $167.18 and a 52 week high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid 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 of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

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.