BayBridge Capital Group LLC Sells 68 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

BayBridge Capital Group LLC trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,748 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 68 shares during the period. American Express accounts for 1.1% of BayBridge Capital Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. BayBridge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. increased its position in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management purchased a new position in American Express in the second quarter worth $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America boosted their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $267.23 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $263.88 and a 200 day moving average of $245.39. American Express has a 52 week low of $141.02 and a 52 week high of $286.36. The company has a market cap of $192.22 billion, a PE ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

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.