American Express (NYSE:AXP) is Conscious Wealth Investments LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Conscious Wealth Investments LLC reduced its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,771 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 155 shares during the period. American Express accounts for approximately 2.7% of Conscious Wealth Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in American Express by 8.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in American Express by 8.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,940,000 after buying an additional 195,876 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in American Express by 22.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after buying an additional 387,166 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in American Express in the first quarter worth about $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in American Express by 14.2% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,798,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $408,494,000 after buying an additional 224,079 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded down $2.63 on Friday, hitting $267.35. 2,993,298 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,933,059. The firm has a market cap of $192.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52 week low of $141.02 and a 52 week high of $286.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $263.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.