Advisors Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,198 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 7,078 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up approximately 0.7% of Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $35,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 39,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,992,000 after acquiring an additional 8,204 shares during the period. Mattern Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $241,000. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at about $255,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in American Express by 22.8% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 13,099 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,983,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $285.54 on Wednesday. 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 52-week low of $161.73 and a 52-week high of $296.83. The company has a market capitalization of $201.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average of $273.81 and a 200 day moving average of $252.10.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend 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%.

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.