BBR Partners LLC Lowers Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

BBR Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,255 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 57 shares during the period. BBR Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. XML Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 9.8% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 119.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after purchasing an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its stake in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 41.3% in the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of American Express by 219.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 164,861 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $37,537,000 after purchasing an additional 113,249 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price 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. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $304.28 on Thursday. American Express has a 1 year low of $163.61 and a 1 year high of $307.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $278.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $254.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $214.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued 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. 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 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.