American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by BBR Partners LLC

BBR Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. lifted its stake in American Express by 42.2% during the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’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 value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, 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 owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $304.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a twelve month low of $163.61 and a twelve month high of $307.82. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $278.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $254.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AXP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen raised their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

About American Express

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.