Kingsview Wealth Management LLC Grows Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,259 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,763 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 150,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $40,887,000 after buying an additional 29,035 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 3,003 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $815,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,658 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Camden National Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $572,000. Finally, Financial Council LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $227,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was 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 $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 currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $301.30 on Friday. American Express has a 12-month low of $163.32 and a 12-month high of $301.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $276.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $253.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.